Événement

Concert: Salaam "Train to Basra and Other Stories" Tour (New Album Release)

Salaam, led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Dena El Saffar, is a Middle Eastern ensemble based in the Midwest. The band has delighted audiences for years with its expansive repertoire of Middle Eastern and North African music, informing the uninitiated, and evoking nostalgia in listeners who are familiar with the art form.

The sound, while rooted in maqam (the modal system used throughout the Middle East), is infused with creative forays into other music genres. This is because El Saffar, who is a classically trained violist with a performance degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, has always listened to a wide variety of music.

In October, Salaam's 7th CD, Train to Basra and Other Stories will be released. This CD features El Saffar as a composer, performer, arranger and author each track on the CD has a corresponding story in the CD booklet. The album is entirely instrumental; a tribute to El Saffar's many years of playing in orchestras. The CD has a very full sound, and features a delightful array of acoustic musical instruments, including: viola, violin, cello, bass, guitar, accordion, nay, saxophone, trumpet, sanoor, óud, dumbek, riqq, tabl, doira and naqqarat.

Many talented musicians are featured on the album, some of whom are family members. Her husband, Tim Moore is the percussionist. Her brother, Amir El Saffar, and sister-in-law, Lety El Naggar, are featured prominently, as is Stephen Harms, Sam Finley and Svetla Vladeva.