Niyaz’s craft is based on the integration of traditional and sacred songs with a contemporary aesthetic. Their choice of instruments cements the East-West connection: keyboards, guitars, digital apps, santur, saz, kaval, kopuz, bendir, riq, qanun, tabla and sarod.
Founded in 2005, Niyaz is a band of Iranian origin formed around Azam Ali (voice, percussion and santur) and Loga Ramin Torkian (multi-instrumentalist). The couple and their child lived in Montreal for the past decade, then returned to California, where they had previously been based.
Recorded between Montreal and Istanbul, the album The Fourth Light is made up of the duo’s original songs, to which Turkish, Afghan and Iranian pieces are added. The songs are also inspired by Rabia Al Basri, a Sufi poetess and ascetic from the 8th century. The Fourth Light was launched in 2015, and five years later Niyaz come back to Montreal to perform it, roadtested and true.
Théâtre Outremont’s website notes, “The Fourth Light is a multimedia show, conceived by Jérôme Delapierre, where oriental lutes unfold in electroacoustic instrumentation and where lighting and scenography combine with the dance of Tanya Evanson, one of the few dervish dancers.”