Intizar: Songs of Longing

"Enregistré dans une église, Intizar n’est pas seulement l’expression d’une extase commune. Il scelle aussi la rencontre d’un trio chambriste issu de la scène jazz occidentale et d’une voix forgée dans la tradition classique persane qui parlent le même langage de l’improvisation."

"Recorded in a church, Intizar is not just the expression of a shared ecstasy. It also marks the coming together of a chamber trio from the Western jazz scene and a voice forged in the classical Persian tradition, both speaking the same language of improvisation."

When the sounds of ancient Persia meet the instruments of Europe, delightful cross-cultural synergies arise. When musicians of the caliber of the Rembrandt Trio and Iranian born singer Mohammad Motamedi collaborate, the senses delight. Thus we have one of the more interesting, engaging and musically satisfying releases of this year: "Intizar - Songs of Longing."

...This album is a very engaging mix of planned composition and improvisation at the highest level of music making. Ann said most succinctly, "This is extraordinarily well done. It is simply delightful to hear. And the singer, Mohammad Motamedi, is just very, very good."

If you enjoy World music or have any interest in expanding your musical horizons, I highly recommend this album. I can't imaging anyone being disappointed.

As soon as I started listening to “Intizar,” the first and title track on this beautiful album by the Rembrandt Trio and the Iranian classical singer Mohammad Motamedi, I thought I was hearing a santur, the Iranian hammer dulcimer. Then I thought, no, that sounds kind of like a piano … but it turns out it’s something even more complicated than that, in a way that’s illustrative of the ideas and performances recorded here.

The Netherlands-based Rembrandt Trio is led by jazz keyboard player Rembrandt Frerichs, with Tony Overwater (double bass and violone) and Vinsent Planjer (drums and percussion). They have collaborated before with Iranian musicians on instrumental projects. This time out they’re working with the highly respected singer Mohammad Motamedi, a gifted improviser and student of Persian poetry both secular and spiritual. The album is a blend of songs from the spiritual Persian tradition and more worldly songs, and some pieces improvised by the trio; over them all, Motamedi chooses a piece of poetry to improvize over the music, which includes influences from Persian and Western classical traditions as well as jazz. [...]

The Rembrandt Trio, made up of Rembrandt Frerichs (piano, fortepiano and organ), Tony Overwater (violone, double bass) and Vinsent Planjer (percussion), is no stranger to cross-cultural adventures. Initially formed to fill an interstitial space between classical, jazz and Near and Middle Eastern music, his list of guests and collaborators includes some big names: Kayhan Kalhor (kamânche, setâr), Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord), Hossein Alizadeh (târ, setâr and tambûr), Paolo Fresu (trumpet), Vincent Peirani (accordion). Intizar: Songs of Longing is released on the Just Listen Records label, a Channel Classics phalanx dedicated to music related to classical music: jazz, crossover, world and folk.

On Intizar: Songs of Longing, the ensemble welcomes Iranian singer Mohammad Motamedi. Traditional songs finely arranged for the occasion, original compositions on poems by Omar Khayyam and Hafez, Intizar: Songs of Longing is an evocative journey to the heart of the musical soul of one of the world’s richest cultures, that of Iran/Persia. With the addition here and there of violin, cello and clarinet, the whole takes on the appearance of ecumenical chamber music that is both timeless and resolutely contemporary. Beautiful, touching, inspiring.

Iranian singer Mohammad Motamedi sparks inspiration from the contrast between Persian poetry and contemporary jazz with the Dutch Rembrandt Trio (piano, bass, drums). As an additional player, sound engineer Jared Sacks elicited the naturally generated richness of detail and reverberation from a church converted into a studio, and with this the album 'Intizar' compels you to listen.

The artists offer the audience a mystical, transcendental experience with unusual sounds, music deeply rooted in tradition but lifted to another level by the openness and freedom of the improvisers. The whole thing is more than fascinating, even if one has to admit that the emotional charge might overwhelm those listeners who are less used to works that break with established patterns. Although the specificity of this music raises the question of whether this ecstasy is accessible to everyone, you will never know unless you try, which I strongly recommend.

The artists offer the audience a mystical, transcendental experience with unusual sounds, music deeply rooted in tradition, but taken to another level by the openness and freedom of the improvisers.

The whole thing is more than fascinating, even if one has to admit that the emotional charge could overwhelm those listeners who are less accustomed to works that break with established patterns.

Although the specificity of this music raises the question of whether this ecstasy is accessible to everyone, you will never know if you don't try, which I strongly recommend.