Amir Elsaffar: Alchemy

Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar has spent the past decade studying the maqam, the ancient tonal system that is the cornerstone of Arabic music. While Elsaffar has mastered Arabic music's traditional forms (some of the tunes on Alchemy make use of scales gleaned from 3,000-year-old Mesopotamian tablets), it is his application of those forms to contemporary jazz that marks him as an innovator. On his trumpet he makes use of microtones not present in conventional Western harmony, and the album's title is an apt description of the way Elsaffar's compositions reach far beyond mere hybridity. Saxophonist Ole Mathisen, pianist John Escreet, bassist François Moutin and drummer Dan Weiss each make skilled contributions to a record that is radically contemporary in its sound even as it connects with music's most ancient roots. amirelsaffar.com