Mahan Mirarab – Persian Side of Jazz (2010)

It’s worthy to note that many American jazz musicians who’ve been embraced overseas often fail to find a footing here in the States. With that in mind, I’ve been deeply captivated by those from other nations who’ve been influenced by the works of American jazz legends, and even more-so, by those who’ve taken that next step, infusing and lacing their sound with that from their respective countries.

Case in point, Persian Side Of Jazz, a solid yet smooth and eventful concept that inches up on listeners without taking control of their being, delivering notes that blend and flow with a responsive flexibility, where the group comes across as a trio who both respect and encourage each other, drawing inspiration from a combined spirit and love of the genre. Their compositions ride on an undercurrent of tradition jazz themes infused with Persian and Middle Eastern manifestations that also encompass aspects of Latin and world enunciations. Through this, the trio of Mahan Mirarab, Wolfi Rainer and Robert Jukic manage to build a sound with a joyful nature, one that surprisingly comes across as sounding much larger and intoxicating than one would expect, bustling with unencumbered eagerness, resoundingly driven, all presented without a sense of busyness or being overly-labored.

Persian Side Of Jazz is a step though an unexpected door, one you’ll be opening time and time again, and one I hope will send you down an explorative road for more of these visionary wonders.

– Jenell Kesler

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