Exclusive to Frusion for the UK (taking enquiries for other territories)

The word 'Niyaz' means need or yearning in both Farsi and Urdu... and the band? Vas vocalist Azam Ali, Axiom of Choice's multi-instrumentalist Loga Ramin Torkian, and producer/remixer Carmen Rizzo have joined forces to create a globe-spanning sound that the trio calls "world music for the 21st century." Known collectively as Niyaz, the trio's first eponymous release is a hypnotic, ecstatic, and eminently danceable album that represents the best of both traditional world music and electronic music. All three of these musicians have built impressive individual careers.

Azam's singing has been heard in several major motion pictures including The Matrix: Revolutions and on many television programs such as Alias and The Agency. Loga Ramin Torkian, whose band Axiom of Choice has won much critical acclaim, is deeply involved with the music of his homeland, Iran. He is accomplished on the guitar, the Turkish saz and electric guitarviol (a 14th century European bowed guitar), a traditional Persian lute, as well as other Turkish and Kurdish instruments. Loga also uses the Persian classical repertoire, known as the radif, within his own compositions. A two-time Grammy Award nominee, Carmen Rizzo has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Seal, Alanis Morisette, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Khaled, Ekova, and Cirque du Soleil as well as Paul Oakenfold, BT, Esthero, Jem, Alpha, Tiesto and Grant Lee Phillips.

The full band is at the moment a 5 piece and quyite quite wonderful, looking to bring this great music to a much broader audience, cd's and dvds of this wonderful band of artists are available please ask

"Ali's velvet vocals convey both sensuality and devotional ecstasy. The electronics don't sound bolted on but exactly like you'd imagine music might have sounded in ancient Persia if they'd had the technology... its a middle East fusion that's up there with the best work of Natacha Atlas..."

Songlines 2006 Nigel Williamson:

"Niyaz is the closest to organic digitalism imaginable: you never know where the mouse pad ends and the animal skin begins.... devotional by nature, weaving deft poetics about being consumed by divine flames into patient textures of dhol, tholak, darbuka, and synthesizers. When the trio attacks the dancefloor fully with the 110-bpm "Dilruba," ancient Persia finds a new home in stacks of subwoofers." - XLR8R 2005

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