Jazz musician Amir ElSaffar could not ask for a better start to his new Maqām Records label than what he’s produced on Maqam Al-Iraq. A series of performances by Hamid Al-Saadi, reputed to be the last living master reciter of the poetic Iraqi maqām repertoire, is both a finely crafted album and a priceless historical record. Al-Saadi honors centuries’ worth of tradition in his singing; ElSaffar honors Al-Saadi by accompanying and recording him. In doing so, both ensure that the oral transmission of maqām can exceed either of their lifetimes. They may be the best possible people to undertake such a task, and Maqam Al-Iraq is testament to that.
Although he hasn’t recorded since 1999, Al-Saadi’s voice remains in fine shape, an instrument that is both powerful and vulnerable (and more so the former than the latter). His broad vibrato and heartrending delivery emphasize the centrality of deep emotion to the maqām form; his command of the many-layered soundscape, it seems, comes not only from technical mastery of the styles he sings but also from an unquantifiable personal connection.
Accompanying him are the Safaafir ensemble: Amir ElSaffar on twinkling santur, his sister Dena ElSaffar on bowed string instruments, violin, and joza, her husband and longtime collaborator Tim Moore on percussion, and Mizhir Al-Obaydi providing (along with Amir) backing vocals.
They are a masterful group, working together in luscious heterophony from start to finish. Though their sound is classic, for lack of a better word, it’s hardly a conservative approach. Of the four maqāmat featured here, the first two are Al-Saadi originals: “Maqām Al-Iraq” and “Maqām Al Sa’idi Hijaz”. The first is slow and bittersweet; the second surges, electric with feeling. “Maqām Al Qazzaz” follows, reverent and impassioned, and the album ends with a rendition of the famously complex “Maqām Al Mansuri”. Each is virtuosic.
Flowing from the end of each maqām is an ebullient pesteh, shorter popular songs for which the supporting vocalists typically join Al-Saadi in bright unison. The camaraderie is palpable, especially on “Habibi Rah wa Ma Janeh” and “Wa Weilah wa Weil”, appended to the second and third maqāmat, respectively. They’re refreshing movements to encounter between long periods of gravitas. More than that, they offer more opportunities for displays of instrumental agility, which all the players at hand have in spades as individuals and in the unquestionable chemistry of the whole group.
For Al-Saadi, Amir ElSaffar, Safaafir, and their listeners, Maqam Al-Iraq is a privilege to witness. Embracing the improvisational nature of the maqām, the performers at hand create (brilliantly) something that can indeed only be made once but can serve as a reference point for generations of Iraqi maqām devotees to come. For Maqām Records, whose mission is to highlight maqām tradition and innovation, it’s as solid a foundation as they come.
For the incomparable Hamid Al-Saadi, it may be one moment in a long career. Still, it’s also an opportunity for the world to behold a master of Iraqi maqām the likes of whom are nearly impossible to find these days—a beautiful, meaningful release.
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