Elysium for the Brave by Azam Ali Six Degrees

Product Description: For this, her second solo album, Azam Ali, lead vocalist of Vas and Niyaz, takes her patented polycultural blend of ancient and contemporary influences even farther beyond the stratosphere. That she is now a veteran of numerous film scores, including Children of Dune, Earthsea, and Matrix Revolutions, perhaps explains her present more cinematic direction. Born in Iran, reared in India and the US, and gifted with a voice of improbable tonal breadth, flexibility, and beauty, she is backed by collaborators like Trey Gunn (King Crimson), Chris Venna (Nine Inch Nails), Turkish DJ/composer Mercan Dede, the Japanese ensemble Kodo, and Grateful Dead drummer/world percussion enthusiast Mickey Hart. One of the more interesting conundrums inherent in Ali's work is that no matter how much electronic technology she employs, her immersion in her heritage unfailingly comes across loud and clear. Whether she is singing in English, which predominates on these sessions, Farsi, or another language, a prayerful sensuality informs every note. It's as though a sexy Tanagra temple figurine or silk-clad court lady from an antique parchment were to suddenly turn her lovely head and step daintily into the modern world, unfurling precisely the kind of voice one expected but never could have imagined. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews

5 stars Take Me Away
I "discovered" Azam Ali by accident. I can't even remember where I first heard Reverie, but it haunted my thoughts until I finally purchased this disc. My review will be brief. Too many words could spoil this. It saddens me any tie I see someone refer to an artist like this as a "closet goth". It seems any time a lower key or brooding nature is given to music, it gets labeled as some way being "goth-like". I call BS. This is a melodic, yet fairly low key beat laden disc graced by what can only be described as one of the most amazing voices ever. Maybe I missed it, but why has no one ever mentioned Ofra Haza when talking about Azam? The comparison is deserved.

4 stars Exotic and Trancelike
My husband likes this cd very much. His choice when drifting off to sleep.

4 stars Sensuous to say the least
What can I say other than it's the most sensuous CD this side of an "X" rating.

5 stars Love her Voice.
A very relaxing cd. She has a great voice and great lyrics. If you like this one, also check out her band Vas.

5 stars Mystical journey into the desert
Azam Ali is an amazing New Age diva. She's more soulful than Enya, and her lyrics show a depth and mysticism not often found in relaxing New Age music. It's also not surprising that Azam Ali contributed the electrifying "Inama Nushif" to the "Children of Dune" soundtrack.

The opening track,"Endless Reverie",evokes vast desert spaces. It seduces the listener into a spiritual journey. "Spring Arrives" is a musical oasis. "Abode" sounds ancient and modern at once,in which Azam Ali sings of longing for her homeland of Iran. "Forty One Ways" has an urgency driving it forward, with its haunting opening "forty one ways to die,one strong will to live. " "The Tryst" is at once spiritual and erotic; Azam Ali sings of her own sin&being unworthy to enter her lover's garden (which almost sounds like Christian rock-yet it's not)."I am a stranger in this world" is unearthly,expressing desire for union with the eternal.

Azam Ali's spirituality shines in her songs. She does not resort to hoary,sappy cliches. It's as if Teresa of Avila's "The Interior Castle" or John of the Cross' "Ascent of Mount Carmel" were given sonic life. Azam Ali has had an amazing career so far;she headed Vas,now she fronts Niyaz.The best is yet to come.

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