Azam Ali ( fa, اعظم علی) is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

musician. As of 2013, she has released eight full-length albums with the bands VAS and

Niyaz Niyaz ( fa, نياز) is an Iranian Canadian musical duo. The group was created in 2004 by DJ, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali's husband, Loga Ra ...

, as well as four solo albums.

Biography

She was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

on 3 October 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in

Panchgani Panchgani, called Paachgani (पाचगणी in Marathi), is a hill station and municipal council in Satara district in Maharashtra, India. Panchgani attracts tourists throughout the year. It is also known for having many residential educat ...

, India. Ali and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1985, after which Ali discovered the

santour The santur (also ''santūr'', ''santour'', ''santoor'') ( fa, سنتور), is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origins.--- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). ''Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī''. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻU ...

. Ali then studied the santour under Persian master

Manoochehr Sadeghi Manoochehr Sadeghi (born April 13, 1938) is a Persian-American naturalized citizen, born in Tehran, Iran. He is considered a Grandmaster or Ostad of the santur, a Persian hammered dulcimer. He has been lecturing, teaching, recording and ...

, which led to the rediscovery of her voice. Ali's singing voice is

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

. In 1996, Ali formed "alternative world" group VAS with percussionist Greg Ellis after meeting the year prior at a concert at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. She and her husband,

Loga Ramin Torkian Loga Ramin Torkian ( fa, لوگا) رامین ترکیان))،(Born: September 23 ،1964) is a musician and the co-founder of the groups Axiom of Choice and Niyaz. Both groups incorporate Persian and Middle Eastern themes into their music. Tork ...

, are also part of another group,

, an Iranian acoustic electronic group. She is known now to be one of the most attractive people in Iran and got that label from her fans around 2018 In 2005, Azam Ali was featured in ''

Enter the Chicken ''Enter the Chicken'' is the fourteenth studio album by musician Buckethead. The album was released on October 25, 2005 by Serj Tankian's label Serjical Strike. It has eleven songs, two of which are less than twenty seconds long. It contains appear ...

'', a 2005

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

album, singing the song "Coma" with

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...

. In 2006, Ali was featured on ''Nefes/Breath'', an album by Turkish ney player and DJ,

Mercan Dede Mercan Dede (born Arkın Ilıcalı, 1966), also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish-Canadian composer, ney and bendir player, DJ, and producer. He is a world music artist, playing a fusion of traditional acoustic Turkish and other oriental ...

, singing the song "Dem."

Solo career

In 2002, Ali released her first solo album, ''

Portals of Grace Portals of Grace is the first solo release from Azam Ali Azam Ali ( fa, اعظم علی) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian musician. As of 2013, she has released eight full-length albums with the bands Vas (band), VAS and Niyaz, as well as four ...

''. This was followed up with 2006's ''Elysium for the Brave'', which reached No. 10 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s World Albums chart on 23 September 2006. Ali's third album, ''From Night to the Edge of Day'' (2011), is a collection of lullabies inspired by her son. ''Lamentation of Swans – A Journey Towards Silence'' (2013), Ali's fourth album, is a joint effort with her husband

that began in 2009 and explores the intimate spaces they had to carve out for themselves to escape the demands of touring. In 2003 she sang Inama Nushif in the fictional

Fremen The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel ''Dune'', the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune), which is the sole known source in the ...

language for the soundtrack to the 2003

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Frank Herbert's Children of Dune ''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune'' is a three-part science fiction miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels ''Dune Messiah'' (1969) and ''Children of Dune'' (1976). First broadcast in t ...

'', written by

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle ...

. In 2006 she was featured vocals in the movie 300. In 2011, Ali's vocals were featured several times on the soundtrack of the third installment of the

Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who travel across the wo ...

videogame series,

Uncharted 3 ''Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the third main entry in the '' Uncharted'' series and was released in November 2011 for the PlaySta ...

. In 2012, she was the vocalist for

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

's ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

'' video game

tech demo A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of s ...

''Agni's Philosophy''. She also helped American composer Jack Wall on the soundtrack for '' Call of Duty: Black Ops 2'' by being vocalist on the track "Pakistan Run". In September 2013, Ali announced that she would provide vocals for the soundtrack of the film '' Thor: The Dark World''. On 31 May 2019, Ali announced her next album, the self-produced PHANTOMS, along with its first single and music video, "Hope." The next single was the album's self-titled track, "Phantoms," and was released on 12 July. The album was released on 13 September 2019.

Social media

Instagram @azamaliofficial
Facebook Page /azam.ali.music

Discography

Solo albums *''

'' (2002) *''

Elysium for the Brave ''Elysium for the Brave'' is singer/songwriter Azam Ali Azam Ali ( fa, اعظم علی) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian musician. As of 2013, she has released eight full-length albums with the bands Vas (band), VAS and Niyaz, as well as four ...

'' (2006) *''From Night to the Edge of Day'' (2011) *''Lamentation of Swans – A Journey Towards Silence'' (2013) redited to Azam Ali and Loga R Torkian*''Phantoms'' (2019) With VAS * '' Sunyata'' (1997) * '' Offerings'' (1998) * '' In the Garden of Souls'' (2000) * '' Feast of Silence'' (2004) With Niyaz * ''

'' (2005) * ''

Nine Heavens ''Nine Heavens'' (Persian: , Noh behešt) is the second album of Iranian music group Niyaz, an acoustic electronic project. It was released on June 24, 2008 on Six Degrees Records. The album is divided into 2 discs. One is the electronic version ...

'' (2008) * '' Sumud'' (2012) * ''

Sumud Acoustic EP ''Sumud Acoustic EP'' is an EP by Niyaz. Announced on September 20, 2012 as a companion piece to the 2012 album Sumud, the EP contains six songs, three of which are renditions of songs from Sumud. Early announcements for ''Sumud'' suggested that ...

'' (2013) * ''

The Fourth Light ''The Fourth Light'', released in March 2015, is the fourth full-length studio album by Niyaz, and their first since the departure of former bandmember Carmen Rizzo Carmen Rizzo (born April 8, 1964) is an American record producer, mixer, progra ...

'' (2015) With Roseland *'' Roseland'' (2007) With VGM *'' Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow'' (2007) *'' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' (2011) With Mercan Dede *''Breath'' (song "Dem") (2006) With Buckethead *''

'' (song "Coma") With Shahrokh Yadegari & Keyavash Nourai *''Green Memories'' (2008) Greg Ellis * ''Kala Rupa Explorations in Rhythm'' (2001) Solo *'' Where's Neil When You Need Him?'' (2006, song "The Cold Black Key")

References

External links

*
Niyaz website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Azam 1970 births Living people Iranian musicians People from Tehran Iranian women singers Urdu-language singers Arabic-language singers English-language singers Persian-language singers Musicians from Los Angeles Narada Productions artists 21st-century women singers Six Degrees Records artists Iranian expatriates in India Expatriate musicians in India 21st-century Iranian women singers American people of Iranian descent Iranian emigrants to the United States