SIMA Jazz:NOW – Comfortable

“It’s the closest thing to telepathy I’ve seen... the class, the brevity, the structural perfection” – Limelight Magazine

“What a bright new force… [Zela’s] debut album announced her range and fascination as a composer, splashing her Armenian heritage across the broad canvas of jazz.” – The Sydney Morning Herald

Into the venerable chambers of the City Recital Hall we go for Jazz;NOW #3 to celebrate improvisation across cultures and the release of award-winning Hamed Sadeghi’s new record Comfortable, alongside the formidable Zela Margossian Quintet. 

Described by Sydney Morning Herald’s John Shand as “one of Australia’s most poetic composers,” Hamed Sadeghi is a multi-award-winning Persian-Australian tar player and composer who is known for his seamless fusion of Persian classical music with Western contemporary and jazz traditions. Here he celebrates the launch of his new album Comfortable; an evolution from his acclaimed Empty Voices project, Comfortable is a new work for a 9-piece ensemble built around tar, woodwinds, brass, double bass, and percussion where the ensemble functions as a single extended instrument to delicately shape the listening experience.

Among his many accolades, Sadeghi has been nominated for ARIA Awards in both the Best World Music Album and Best Jazz Album categories. He has also been a finalist for the APRA Art Music Awards and nominated for Best Original Score at the Sydney Theatre Awards. As a classical Persian music soloist, Sadeghi has performed with notable Iranian figures, including maestro Shahram Nazeri and Aziz Shahrokh.

Variously described as “ethno-jazz”, “world-jazz”, and “folk-jazz fusion”, Zela Margossian’s music rises above all these labels as a product of her own unique constellation of influences and lived experiences. An ARIA-award nominated pianist and composer, Margossian’s quintet fuses her rich Armenian heritage with her love of improvisation. Having performed around the world at many major festivals including EFG London Jazz Festival and Beirut International Jazz Festival and currently signed to US label Ropeadope, SIMA are thrilled to welcome the ZMQ back to the stage. 

“Hamed Sadeghi has been a mainstay of Australia’s cultural landscape for the last ten years, weaving his Persian heritage, his technical virtuosity, his compositional prowess and his panache for collaboration and improvisation into an undeniable tour de force that continues to stun audiences around the world. SIMA are delighted to be presenting the album launch and premiere performance of his new large ensemble work. To have this bill augmented by the formidable and peripatetic Zela Margossian Quintet, who has developed a highly distinctive compositional voice and profound ensemble sound, is a dream. Come and hear improvisation as you never have before in one of Sydney’s most beautiful venues.” – SIMA Artistic Director Novak Manojlovic