Niyaz live in Stockholm!

.. Last night as part of the Re:Orient festival, Niyaz performed live in Stockholm. It was a lovely evening, and Stockholm has been in the midst of a heatwave, so the concert on the outdoor terrace of Kulturhuset (literally The Culture House) was wonderful. The 3 members were accompanied by two other amazing musicians: a Greek musician playing the Oud and an Indian-Canadian Tabla player. They complemented Azam Ali on vocals, her husband Loga on Guitar-Viol and Tabour (at left in the picture), and Carmen (middle, above) on Programming and Keyboards. They sounded great. The music was moody and yearning and upbeat...a celebration of world culture...and since a few of the songs were about yearning to return to your homeland, I kinda knew where they were coming from. And for me, an LA boy, it was great to see this group of musicians from different countries and cultures playing together (and based in LA of course!). It was my first time seeing Azam live since Julian Walker and I saw her previous group, VAS, live at the Skirball Center in LA sometime at the end of the last century. I got a chance to chat briefly with the percussionist, and I told him I was from Santa Monica. He asked me where and I told him my last address, and it turns out he lives on the same street but about two blocks away from where I last lived there. Cue: "It's a Small World"... Anyway, it was a great concert, and the crowd had a lot of love for the group...afterwards the DJ kept the crowd moving on the dancefloor...and since it's Sweden in June, it never really got dark... At this time of year (mid-summer is just a few days away), the sun sets but it never really gets dark...just dusky before the sun rises again 3 hours later... It is literally possible to read a book outside until about 11 pm... namaste. ..