Evento

Escalay - Classical Arab Music and Fusion Jazz

Escalay ("waterwheel") makes their Seventh Avenue Performances debut with a meld of classical Arabic music and jazz in the tradition of John Coltrane. Led by Tom Chandler, a student of the Nubian oud master Hamaza El Diin, Escalay's reperoire includes music by El Din, Coltrane, John Zorn, Andrew Hill, Ornette Coleman, Oum Kulthum and Arabo-Andalusian music, as well as original compositions.

Guitarist and oud player Tom Chandler moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2002, after graduating from the Berklee College of Music. In addition to leading his own jazz groups, freelancing and teaching guitar, Chandler is one of the foremost oud players in the Bay Area. He has performed, recorded and toured with the Latif Bolat Ensemble, playing mystical Turkish Sufi music, appeared and studied with the great Nubian oud master Hamza El Din, written music for, recorded and performed with the medieval music group Heliotrope, and been a member of the West African-inspired folk group the Palm Wine Boys from 1993-2006. In 2006 he formed Escalay, a group dedicated to the meeting ground between middle eastern music and jazz. Whether on oud or guitar, Chandler has an utterly unique musical style, ranging from Nubian and Arabic influences to free jazz, searching for musical transcendence, or "tarab".