The world is filled with exceptional music and musicians. For me, rare is the musician or vocalist that can give me absolute gooseflesh with awe at their sheer artistry. Azam Ali possesses such a voice. During the mid-90’s, listening to a local jazz station, I heard Azam with Greg Ellis and their band, Vas. The song was Sunyata. Over the years, Azam Ali, with her bandmates in both Vas and Niyaz have made so many incredible albums. I have thrilled recognizing that voice when watching a movie in a theater, such as I did when I went to see 300. I have used this music both for meditation and in dance as offerings in my own personal rituals. When showing a Persian friend, whose parents also fled Iran during the Islamic Revolution Azam’s music, it helped her to reconnect to her own Persian heritage that her parents to this day have been reluctant to let show here in the West. That kind of power and beauty cannot be underestimated or overstated.
Azam Ali’s voice, musicianship, artistry and sheer love shines like a timeless beacon. In her ethereal sound, I hear the voices of our ancient akhu (ancestors) and I hear the future. The future is exciting and bright for artists, musician, filmmakers, and writers who want to be in charge of their own careers. Azam very astutely has embraced the future and done it with a real consciousness that art is not created in a vacuum. That even though the middle men, the agents, the record companies and publishers may not be as necessary now in the digital age, certainly those of us who love art and appreciate those who create that art have a new avenue to reach each other. Azam is 110% correct that creative people should have their hands in every aspect of the art that they produce. Ultimately, it leads to putting out a far better product and it builds rapport with the very people that you are trying to reach and inspire through your art.
I am therefore, boosting the signal that Azam has sent out in an incredible leap of faith that the joint project she has created with her husband,Ramin Loga Torkian (also an incredible musician), “The Lamentation of Swans” be created by the support of their fans. According to Azam, this album will be deeply personal. Of that there can be no doubt. Please join me in making a pledge to Azam’s newest album and showing your support. The link below will lead you to the site.
Life Belongs to Sekhmet 