“The kind of gig you watched and prayed would never end, charged with such magic that you knew you would be telling people about it in years to come.”—Straight No Chaser
Tunisian-born singer and oud (Arabic lute) virtuoso Dhafer Youssef’s hypnotic, Sufi-inspired music connects the ancient with the modern, the East with the West in an enticing coalescence of culture. Youssef draws on the evocative sound of his Islamic heritage, combining it with new directions in European jazz and “a voice that could stop wars” (Songlines) to create timeless atmospheres of sound. In his Minnesota debut, he is joined by a string quartet—Todd Reynolds (Ethel, Steve Reich), violin; Daisy Jopling (Triology), violin; Caleb Burhans (Alarm Will Sound), viola; Mark Helias (Anthony Braxton, Dewey Redman), bass—and omnidextrous percussionist Satoshi Takeishi (Randy Brecker, Paul Winter, Erik Friedlander).
This concert is part of the three-part series New World Jazz, featuring leading composers-performers fusing elements of jazz, chamber music, and innovations on centuries-old world musical traditions.
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