Comfortable – Hamed Sadeghi

Hamed Sadeghi presents Comfortable, a new work for an 8-piece ensemble of tar, woodwinds, brass, double bass and percussions that weave together ancient Middle Eastern resonance and contemporary jazz. This is music that fills a room with something hard to name but impossible to ignore. Described by Sydney Morning Herald as "one of Australia's most poetic composers," Sadeghi has spent years developing a compositional voice that sits outside easy categorisation. His original projects have been presented at the London Jazz Festival, Rome Jazz Festival, Auckland Arts Festival, WOMAD, Sydney Festival and Brisbane Festival, and performed at venues including Sydney Opera House. Comfortable is built around contradiction. The music moves through long melodic lines and interwoven parts, where woodwinds and brass fold around the ancient resonance of the tar, and the ensemble functions less as individual players and more as a single extended instrument, one that breathes, contracts and fills space with precision and physicality. Rather than foregrounding solo displays, the work unfolds slowly and deliberately, shaped by deep musical thinking and a fascination with the space where comfort and unease coexist. Bringing together Australia's leading jazz voices and virtuosos of the Middle Eastern tradition, Comfortable makes its world premiere this spring. Joining Hamed Sadeghi is special guest Zela Margossian Quintet 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 is thrilled to welcome the ZMQ back to the stage. Presented by Hamed Sadeghi, City Recital Hall and SIMA