Azam Ali

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Azam Ali
Azam Ali, Niyaz concert, Kavehaz Restaurant & Bar, NYC, September 17, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Azam Ali
Born	Tehran, Iran
Genre(s)	World
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Hammered Dulcimer, Frame Drum, Riqq, Zils, Chan Chan, Daf, Tanpura, Psaltery, Bendir
Label(s)	Narada, Six Degrees Records
Associated acts	Vas, Niyaz, Roseland
Website	http://www.azamalimusic.com

Azam Ali is an Iranian musician/singer, who currently resides in Los Angeles.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Film and television 3 Other works 4 Discography 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Azam Ali was born in Tehran, Iran and grew up in India from the age of four in the small town of Panchgani, a hill station in the state of Maharashtra. There she attended an international co-educational boarding school for eleven years, all the while absorbing India’s music and culture throughout her formative years. The course Azam would eventually choose in her life would be very much influenced by her fortuitous upbringing in a school which emphasized the importance of the arts and spirituality, and aimed through moral and academic excellence to produce promoters of social transformation imbued with the spirit of service to mankind. It is this objective that would take shape in Azam’s music in the coming years.

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 changed the course of Azam’s life, as it did for many Iranians. Unwilling to bring her daughter back to a country filled with uncertainty, her mother decided to give up her home and life and joined her daughter in India. Together they moved to America in 1985 when Azam was just a teenager.

Shortly after moving to the United States, it became clear for Azam that she wanted to pursue a career in music after falling in love with the Persian santour (hammered dulcimer). Though Azam sang often at home and school functions, she had no particular interest in becoming a vocalist^{[citation needed]}. She began studying the santour under the guidance of Persian master Manoocher Sadeghi. During the eight years of her studies with Ustad Sadeghi Azam began to realize that she was unable to express the full range of emotions she experienced through her instrument.^{[citation needed]} It was during one of these lessons that her teacher heard her sing for the first time. He told her that her voice had a rare emotional quality about it which should be cultivated and nurtured.^{[citation needed]} It was through his encouragement that Azam began to explore her voice as the vehicle through which she would finally be able to fully express herself, a voice which Billboard magazine would later describe as "a glorious unforgettable instrument."

While pursuing formal training in various vocal traditions, like Western classical, Indian, Persian and Eastern European, Azam’s true passion has been to explore the immense potentiality of the human voice, specifically its capability to transcend language, culture and spiritual barriers when expressing pure emotion.^{[citation needed]} When asked about her approach to singing, Azam explains: "What intrigues me most about the human voice, is its ability to make all things transparent through its power of transformation. The voice is not just a conduit for words. For me it is like an abstract dream in which everything makes perfect sense."^{[citation needed]}

Currently living in Los Angeles, Azam is internationally recognized for her work with Vas, world music duo she co-founded in 1996 with percussionist Greg Ellis. From 1997 – 2004 Vas has released four albums on the Narada music label. Their music, which they described as "alternative world", focused mainly on the ancient relationship between the drum and the voice. Their sound blended influences of Indian, Persian, Western and other musical styles. Vas have drawn comparisons to the celebrated world music group Dead Can Dance.

Azam is married to fellow Niyaz member Loga Ramin Torkian. They recently welcomed the birth of their first child.

[edit] Film and television

Azam's voice can be heard on a myriad of film and television projects. She has worked extensively with composer Brian Tyler on his scores for Paparazzi, Godsend and especially on the 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, where she performs the song "Inama Nushif".^[1] She also performs vocals for the theme to the show Prison Break.

Other works include Battlefield Earth, The Legend of Earthsea, Dawn of the Dead and Matrix Revolutions, performing the song "Navras" together with bandmate Greg Ellis, Ben Watkins of Juno Reactor and Laxmi Shankar. She also performed leading vocals for the choir-driven soundtrack in 2007's comic book-based epic film 300, composed by Tyler Bates.

More recently, she has also performed on the controversial mini-series The Path to 9/11.

[edit] Other works

Beside Vas, Azam is also the singer of the Iranian band Niyaz which includes Loga Ramin Torkian and Grammy-award winning producer Carmen Rizzo. Niyaz, an acoustic electronic project that puts the words of Sufi poets to music, has garnered much acclaim and success, recently performing at the Vancouver Jazz Festival.

Azam is also a very prolific guest performer and her distinctive voice can be found on many albums such as One by Yuval Ron, released in 2003 on Magda Records. This release, essentially by a middle eastern supergroup, also features Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Yair Dalal, as well as Haim Louk, Pejman Hadadi and Nabil Azzam

Further collaborations include the song "Coma" with Serj Tankian on the album Enter the Chicken by Buckethead and appearances on albums by Dredg, Steve Stevens, Kondo and Slow Motion Reign.

In 2002, she toured with Mickey Hart's band Bembe Orisha, along with Greg Ellis.

In 2006, Azam contributed the song "The Cold Black Key" to "Neil Gaiman: Where's Neil When You Need Him?"

In 2007 Azam revealed yet another musical project, Roseland, with film composer Tyler Bates.

She is also the one who sings the main theme song for the 2007 PlayStation Portable game, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow. The song she sings is actually titled "Logan's Shadow".

In 2008, Azam released a self-titled album by yet another collaborative project called Green Memories. With Ali in the group was virtuoso classical Iranian violinist Kiavash Nourai and composer Shahrokh Yadegari.

[edit] Discography

As a solo artist:

Year	Album	Label
2002	Portals of Grace	Narada Records
2006	Elysium For The Brave	Six Degrees Records
2007	Elysium Remixes EP 1	Six Degrees Records
2007	Elysium Remixes EP 2	Six Degrees Records

With Vas:

Year	Album	Label
1997	Sunyata	Narada Records
1998	Offerings	Narada Records
2000	In the Garden of Souls	Narada Records
2004	Feast of Silence	Narada Records

With Niyaz:

Year	Album	Label
2005	Niyaz	Six Degrees Records
2008	Nine Heavens	Six Degrees Records

With Roseland:

Year	Album	Label
2007	Roseland	Tyzami Records

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Azam Ali's official site
• Vas Website
• Niyaz Website
• Azam Ali on MySpace
• Tyler Bates Website
• Poetry by Azam Ali