On the Playlist 18/FEB/2019...

Was reading this evening and put on a great CD from my favorite avante garde jazz musician. This one is a very interesting collaboration between three musicians; Amir Koushkani, who is from Iran and plays the Tar, Sal Ferreras from Puerto Rico and is a percussionist and finally Francois Houle on clarinet from Quebec. The album called "Alight" and the group is called Safa. The music has a distinctly Persian sound with an improvised jazz sound that makes it sound like it was an obvious combination despite how strange the combination may seem. The version I have is from an SACD and the sound is amazing. I think this is some of Francois' best clarinet playing as the tone comes through so clearly in this ensemble and is absolutely amazing. I hadn't played this for a while and I had forgotten just how good it is.