Photo © Nikki Michaels   Photo © Andy Nozaka

Saxophonist and composer Hafez Modirzadeh has collaborated with the likes of Don Cherry, Peter Apfelbaum, and Fred Ho, and has been recorded on more than a dozen releases, including the seminal 1993 In Chromodal Discourse and the critically acclaimed 1996 work The People's Blues, as well as the soundtrack for the Mirimax film release of Kevin Spacey's Albino Alligator. His invention of the "chromodal" method allows for a nonlinear improvisational practice which is able to adapt and incorporate multiple systems of music, permitting a cross-cultural "conversation" between instruments, performers, and musical idioms. Born in 1962 of an Iranian father and European-American mother, Modirzadeh grew up in France and the U.S., identifying strongly with African-American blues and jazz as well as the rich traditions of classical Iranian music. Today, he is a renowned scholar in ethnomusicology, whose writings have been published in numerous journals, as well as in his book The Chromodal Approach to Improvised Music (Spartan Books Press, 1996). He is the recipient of two NEA Jazz Fellowships as well as an Artist-in-Residence Grant from the California Arts Council.

Music excerpts:

Akan
by Hafez Modirzadeh
Hafez Modirzadeh, tenor saxophone; Royal Hartigan, drums; James Norton, soprano saxophone; Jim Volpicella, guitar;
Ken Filiano, bass
X Dot 25 #DI-016-2
(c) & (p) 1996 Hafez Modirzadeh, X Dot 25 Productions, Inc.

Voices Unveiled
Recorded at Other Minds 4, November 11, 1997
Hafez Modirzadeh with the Chromodal Consort
Claudia Gomez, vocals, guitar; Donna Kwon, vocals, changgo, dumbek; Parinaz, vocals;
Rita Sahai, vocals, tambura; Linda Tillery, vocals; Rob Burger, accordion;
Kevin Frey, horn; Mark Izu, double-bass; Eliott Humberto Kavee, cello, percussion;
Hafez Modirzadeh, soprano saxophone; Francis Wong, tenor saxophone, clarinet flute
World concert première
© 1997 Hafez Modirzadeh