Rahim AlHaj Trio: Issa Malluf, Rahim AlHaj, Sourena Sefati.

Eighteen years ago, Iraqi oud virtuoso/composer Rahim AlHaj, his life threatened by the Saddam regime, which had already imprisoned and tortured him twice, emigrated to the United States with his oud, a few books and paintings, and $60. (A heavy smoker at the time, he claims, with a laugh, to have smoked the $60.) His trouble with the regime had its seeds in the early days of the Iran-Iraq War, when he was just 13 years old. He submitted a composition in Maqam Dasht (an Iraqi scale) to the quadrennial youth competition and won. Because Maqam Dasht is closely related to the Iranian Maqam Āvāz-eDašti, the composition was heard by some as an antiwar statement, a gesture of peace toward Iran. This Saturday, at the Outpost, AlHaj celebrates the release of his latest recording, One Sky* (Smithsonian Folkways), which includes that same composition, enriched by AlHaj’s mature mastery of his instrument. He will be joined by his trio mates on the album: Iranian santur virtuoso Sourena Sefati, and Palestinian-American percussionist Issa Malluf. Continue reading →