Latvijas Radio Bigbends - Spikeri Concert Hall, Riga, Latvia

First published on jazzwise.com



Latvijas Radio Bigbends
Spikeri Concert Hall, Riga, Latvia
30th January 2020

Next to the Daugava river in Riga, an old warehouse has been transformed into one of the city’s most innovative new music spaces. And for two nights, the Spikeri Concert Hall was transformed again, into a giant live-room recording studio for a session from the Latvijas Radio Bigbends (Latvian Radio Big Band).

It was an intimate performance in many ways. Not only was the audience small – the 100 tickets for each show were in such demand that they were allocated by lottery – but the band themselves played entirely without amplification. Listening to the instruments without the adulteration of a sound system was a really liberating experience, and one that brought the audience much closer to the music in an emotional sense. In such close quarters, the feel of the massed horns takes on a physical quality as well as a musical one, although with the occasional downside of the soloists becoming drowned in sound during some of the more hectic moments.

The Big Band was as tight as you’d expect from a state-funded ensemble – not that that makes it any less impressive. The band’s line-up represents a distillation of the country’s varied jazz scene, with the sax section especially acting as a who’s-who of Latvia’s premier players. There were also special guests in the form of Gints Pabērzs on soprano sax, Lithuanian trombonist Jievaras Jasinskis, and Atis Andersons, whose Hammond playing was a delight throughout, his solos adding a classic bluesy hue to proceedings.

The programme of the evening was a set composed by the Big Band’s musical director, tenor saxophonist Kārlis Vanags, entitled Identitātes (Identities). The most striking element was Vanags’ use of contrast. While there were nods to big band’s swing origins, it was the unexpected juxtapositions that pricked the ears the most. In some places, shrill horn blasts pepper sumptuous sustained piano glissandi; in others, wordless vocals seamlessly blend into full-spread trumpet chords. In ‘Jaunā Dzīvība’ (New Life), quiet clouds of layered polyrhythmic sound provided an impressionist backdrop to Rihards Goba’s Santana-like guitar solo. And then, out of nowhere, we’re treated to a simple, elegant solo piano piece in the shape of ‘Iekšējā Balss’ (Inner Voice). The concert ended on one of those big, bold pieces that’s just perfect for a 70s cop movie, complete with wah guitar and a grooving organ trio section to top it off. With the repertoire constantly chopping and changing and catching the listener off-guard, Vanags’ compositional through-line meant that the concert had a conceptual unity that elevated it from a fun big band gig to an accomplished artistic showcase.

The performance was arranged as a live recording to become the ensemble’s forthcoming album, to be released on up-and-coming Latvian jazz label Jersika Records. It was live in every sense, too: the whole concert was mixed onto two-track tape as it was performed for a fully analogue experience; with no editing possible after the fact, there’s no hiding place. And they rose to the occasion. It was a night mercifully free of tedious retakes. Having performed (and recorded) the same concert two nights in a row, there was no need to hang on the audience’s patience by playing the same pieces over and over.

Along with the intimate venue, it all created a relaxed and friendly atmosphere for all involved – perfect for a live recording – and together with the top-notch performances and forward-thinking composition and concept, this was a very special show. Keep your eyes out for the album’s release in the late spring.


Photo: Kārlis Vanags conducts the Latvijas Radio Bigbends, by Kaspars Balamovskis.

Hossein Alizadeh

First published in Tonality Magazine no. 4, 2020.



Few musicians of contemporary Iran are as respected as Hossein Alizadeh. He is the leading master of Persian lutes including the tar (the hourglass-shaped lute) and the setar (a long-necked lute with variants across Central Asia and the Middle East), as well as the shurangiz, a hybrid instrument of his own devising.

Born in Tehran in 1950 to mixed Persian-Azeri parentage, Alizadeh quickly became immersed in the tradition of musiqi-e assil – the classical music of Iran that can be traced back many centuries. He became a professional musician aged just 15, and quickly became noted for his powerful yet delicate performance style and his mastery of improvisation within the classical radif structures. Among his achievements in traditional music are his recordings of the entire canonical cycle of radif based on the interpretations of Mirzah Abdullah.

Aside from strict interpretations of classical and traditional music, Alizadeh has been at the forefront of innovative music in Iran, and has expanded the possibilities of what is thinkable within the realms of Persian music. He has been particularly celebrated as a composer, having written many pieces even outside of his own instruments of choice including, famously, a concerto for ney (end-blown reed flute) and string orchestra entitled NayNava from 1983. In addition to many film scores including those for Gabbeh and Turtles Can Fly, he has also expanded into rarely-walked avenues such as in his creation of the Hamavayan Ensemble, a forward-thinking group bringing new directions to Iranian choral singing.

Part of Alizadeh’s importance to Persian music lies in his dedication to the transmission of the musical culture, which he pursues in various ways. As an educator, he has taught regularly at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, as well as at the University of Tehran and the California Institute of the Arts; his pupils have themselves gone on to be respected and boundary-pushing musicians.

Internationally, he spreads the word through his performances. Alizadeh has played concerts all around the world, both solo and as part of many ensembles with other legends of Persian music, such as Aref Ensemble with Mohammad Reza Lotfi and Perviz Meshkatian, and Masters of Persian Music with Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Kayhan Kalhor. Some of his most exciting collaborations have seen him exploring his music’s wider connections. Made together with renowned Armenian duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, the celebrated album Endless Vision earned Alizadeh one of his three Grammy nominations; it was the first time the Persian and Armenian cultures had met in a formal musical space. He has also performed with Dutch baroque-jazz specialists the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio, a collaboration that has resulted in an album to be released later in 2020.

Hossein Alizadeh is without a doubt one of the most important figures in the field of music in Iran and beyond – as an educator, as a composer, as an exponent of old traditions and new talent and, foremost, as a true master in his performance of Persian classical music.


Photo: Hossein Alizadeh (right) plays the tar alongside Madjid Khaladj on tombak.