Axiom of Choice (band)
Encyclopedia
Axiom of Choice is a southern California
(USA) based world music
group of Iran
ian émigré
s who perform a fusion
style incorporating Persian classical music
and Western classical music
.
who plays a variant of a guitar
of his own invention that is fret
ted to play quarter tone
s, the band has a sound combining soaring female vocals, Middle-Eastern rhythms and melodies, and progressive Western production styles.
The band was named after the mathematical concept, the Axiom of choice.
The melodies and rhythms of Persia's Radif
tradition are mixed with Western music. Led by Persia-born nylon-string classical guitar, quarter-tone guitar, and tarbass player and musical director Loga Ramin Torkian, the septet incorporates a global range of influences into its sound. Axiom of Choice remains rooted in the musical heritage of Torkian and fellow Persian émigrés Mamak Khadem and Pejman Hadadi
. While Khadem's singing in the Persian language
retains the spirit of the past, the playing of Hadadi, one of the leading Persian percussionists living in the United States, gives the group its flavor. Hadadi—who plays daf
, tombak, and nagada
-- previously toured with Hossein Alizadeh
, Kayhan Kalhor
, and Shahram Nazeri
. He continues to be involved with Axiom of Choice and with the Dastan ensemble
.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(USA) based world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
group of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
s who perform a fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
style incorporating Persian classical music
Music of Iran
The music of Iran has thousands of years of history, as seen in the archeological documents of Elam, one of the earliest world cultures,which was located in southwestern Iran...
and Western classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
.
History
Led by Loga Ramin TorkianLoga Ramin Torkian
Loga Ramin Torkian is a musician who has worked with the groups Axiom of Choice and Niyaz. Both groups incorporate Persian and Middle Eastern themes into their music. Torkian composes music and plays several instruments, including the tar, the Turkish saz, and the guitarviol, an electric...
who plays a variant of a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
of his own invention that is fret
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
ted to play quarter tone
Quarter tone
A quarter tone , is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale, an interval about half as wide as a semitone, which is half a whole tone....
s, the band has a sound combining soaring female vocals, Middle-Eastern rhythms and melodies, and progressive Western production styles.
The band was named after the mathematical concept, the Axiom of choice.
The melodies and rhythms of Persia's Radif
Musical radif
Radif is a collection of many old melodic figures preserved through many generations by oral tradition. It organizes the melodies in a number of different tonal spaces called Dastgah...
tradition are mixed with Western music. Led by Persia-born nylon-string classical guitar, quarter-tone guitar, and tarbass player and musical director Loga Ramin Torkian, the septet incorporates a global range of influences into its sound. Axiom of Choice remains rooted in the musical heritage of Torkian and fellow Persian émigrés Mamak Khadem and Pejman Hadadi
Pejman Hadadi
Pejman Hadadi is an internationally acclaimed Iranian tonbak player and Persian classical musician. In 1990 Hadadi emigrated to the United States.In 1995 he joined Dastan ensemble...
. While Khadem's singing in the Persian language
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
retains the spirit of the past, the playing of Hadadi, one of the leading Persian percussionists living in the United States, gives the group its flavor. Hadadi—who plays daf
Daf
A daf is a frame drum used as a musical instrument in popular and classical music. The term daf is used in Iran / Kurdistan for a large drum that has a series of four interlinked rings in the frame. Daf is mostly used in Middle East, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and ...
, tombak, and nagada
Nagada
Nagada is the name of a town in ancient Egypt. It existed before and during the time of unification of Egypt into one nation, the so-called Protodynastic Period of Egypt. The process of unification apparently started from Nagada....
-- previously toured with Hossein Alizadeh
Hossein Alizadeh
Hossein Alizadeh , is an Iranian composer, radif-preserver, researcher, teacher, and tar and setar instrumentalist and improviser, described by Allmusic as a leading Iranian classical composer and musician....
, Kayhan Kalhor
Kayhan Kalhor
Kayhan Kalhor , born 24 November 1963, is an Iranian kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish and Persian music.-Youth and studies:...
, and Shahram Nazeri
Shahram Nazeri
Shahram Nazeri is a contemporary Iranian tenor of Kurdish ancestry who sings classical Persian music from Kermanshah. He is one of Iran's most respected vocalists...
. He continues to be involved with Axiom of Choice and with the Dastan ensemble
Dastan ensemble
Dastan ensemble is a Persian classical music ensemble. Founded in 1991 by Hamid Motabassem, Dastan has performed concerts throughout the world.-Members:*Hossein Behroozinia *Hamid Motebassem *Pejman Hadadi...
.
External links
- Official webpage at Xdot25 Music
- [ Axiom of Choice] on Allmusic
- Axiom of Choice auf culturebase.net