Sound: The Encounter: New Music from Iran & Syria at Asia Society

For the last concert of its series, New Sounds from Iran, Asia Society presents a rare and mesmerizing encounter between Iranian ney-ban (bagpipe) virtuoso musician and dancer Saied Shanbezadeh and Syrian saxophonist Basel Rajoub (known for introducing the saxophone into Middle Eastern music). The two award-winning musicians will perform a program of newly developed compositions and arrangements, re-imagining thousand-year-old musical traditions with a contemporary, jazz-inflected twist. The result is music that is at once seamless and surprising, which only could have emerged from artists whose own musical journeys have zigzagged back and forth between cultures and influences...

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For the last concert of its series, New Sounds from Iran, Asia Society presents a rare and mesmerizing encounter between Iranian ney-ban (bagpipe) virtuoso musician and dancer Saied Shanbezadeh and Syrian saxophonist Basel Rajoub (known for introducing the saxophone into Middle Eastern music). The two award-winning musicians will perform a program of newly developed compositions and arrangements, re-imagining thousand-year-old musical traditions with a contemporary, jazz-inflected twist. The result is music that is at once seamless and surprising, which only could have emerged from artists whose own musical journeys have zigzagged back and forth between cultures and influences. Shanbezadeh and Rajoub will be joined by Naghib Shanbehzapdeh (a disciple of master Mahmoud Farahmand) performing on zarbetempo (percussion) and damman (drum), and guest musicians.

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