A couple of years ago, a girl I worked with asked if I had borrowed her Vas CD. Since I had no clue what she meant, I actually had to ask if it’s a piece of software. She just laughed. “No, they’re a musical group. Heavy middle-eastern influence.” Obviously, I didn’t have the CD. I came home and did some poking around online. Here’s what I discovered.

Vas is the collaboration of Azam Ali and Greg Ellis. They’ve been working together since 1997’s Sunyata CD. They have 3 other CDs: Offerings (1998), In the Garden of Souls (2000), and Feast of Silence (2004).

Azam Ali is a busy little girl. In addition to Vas, she works on a few other projects:

• Niyaz
• Roseland
• Solo recordings
• Collaborative recordings

So far, I have 9 CDs of her stuff: 4 Vas CDs, 2 Niyaz CDs, 2 solo CDs, and Roseland.

Here’s the thing. Her voice is …

ummm ….

it’s ….

well, let me put it this way: you’ll either need a cigarette or you’ll have to pee after you’re done listening to her. She’s that good.

On some of her projects (Roseland, solo efforts to some degree), she mixes western influence in with her music. With others, you can totally tell that she is of Iranian descent.

Her music is great if you’re into mellow, relaxing, hypnotic soundscapes that send you on a trance-inducing trip, much like taking a Lortab 10. The great thing is that, once the music is gone, you’re not left with a chemical hangover. Cuz, you know … Lortab does that to you. Or maybe it just does that to me.

http://www.azamalimusic.com/