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I’ve written often about fantastic trumpeter Amir ElSaffar, an Oak Park native, who discovered the music of his Iraqi roots long after becoming a seriously skilled jazz musician. Years before he became interested in Iraqi maqam,* his sister Dena had already become immersed in the tradition, traveling to Iraq with their father in 1990 and learning the music and Arabic upon her return. She eventually studied ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington, and formed Salaam to put her own spin on traditional Arabic and Iraqi music. In her group Safaafir, she and her brother play Iraqi maqam with painstaking authenticity, but as the new Salaam album, Train to Basra and Other Stories (due out October 29), makes clear, on her own Dena ElSaffar isn’t so concerned with purity (nor, for that matter, is her brother, who’s made his mark with a powerful fusion of free jazz and maqam).
Salaam performs Wednesday night (tomorrow) at the Old Town School of Folk Music; the lineup includes Dena and Amir ElSaffar, ElNaggar, Moore, and bassist Steve Harms. Below you can check out “Beledi, Baby,” one of the more austere and best tracks from the new album. Amir is featured on santoor, ElNaggar on ney.
