Azam Ali
Azam Ali | |
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Ali in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Azam Aliafgerad |
| Born | 3 October 1970 Tehran, Iran |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Labels | |
| Member of | Niyaz |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | azamalimusic |
Azam Ali (Persian: اعظم علی) is an Iranian musician. As of 2013, she has released ten albums with the bands VAS, Roseland, and Niyaz, as well as five solo records.
Biography
Born in Tehran on 3 October 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in Panchgani, India.[1] She and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1985. Ali studied the santoor under Persian master Manoochehr Sadeghi, which led her to discover her voice.[2]
Projects and collaborations
In 1996, Ali formed the "alternative world" group Vas with percussionist Greg Ellis after they met a year prior at a concert at UCLA. The project was active until 2004.[1] Ali and her husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, are part of another group, Niyaz, an Iranian acoustic electronic project.[3][4] Between 2003 and 2007, she formed one half of the duo Roseland, together with American musician and composer Tyler Bates.
In 2005, Ali was featured on Enter the Chicken, a 2005 Buckethead and Friends album, singing the song "Coma" with Serj Tankian.[5]
In 2006, she appeared on Nefes/Breath, an album by Turkish ney player and DJ Mercan Dede, singing the song "Dem."
Solo career
In 2002, Ali released her first solo album, Portals of Grace.[6] This was followed in 2006 by Elysium for the Brave, which reached No. 10 on Billboard's World Albums chart on 23 September 2006.[7] Ali's third album, From Night to the Edge of Day (2011), is a collection of lullabies inspired by her son.[8] Lamentation of Swans – A Journey Towards Silence (2013), her fourth album, is a joint effort with her husband that began in 2009.
In 2003, she sang the song "Inama Nushif" in the fictional Fremen language for the soundtrack to the Syfy mini-series Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, written by Brian Tyler.[9] In 2006, her vocals were featured in the movie 300.[10] In 2007, she composed the score to the video game [11]In 2011, she was heard several times on the soundtrack of Uncharted 3. In 2012, she was the vocalist for Square Enix's Final Fantasy video game tech demo Agni's Philosophy.[12] In 2013, she provided vocals for the soundtrack to the film Thor: The Dark World.[13]
On 31 May 2019, Ali announced her next album, the self-produced Phantoms, along with its first single and music video, "Hope".[14] The next single was the album's title track, which was released on 12 July.[15] The record came out on 13 September.
Discography
Solo
Studio albums
- Portals of Grace (2002)
- Elysium for the Brave (2006)
- From Night to the Edge of Day (2011)
- Lamentation of Swans – A Journey Towards Silence (2013) [Credited to Azam Ali and Loga R Torkian]
- Phantoms (2019)
Soundtracks
Other albums
- Green Memories with Shahrokh Yadegari and Keyavash Nourai (2008)
with VAS
- Sunyata (1997)
- Offerings (1998)
- In the Garden of Souls (2000)
- Feast of Silence (2004)
with Niyaz
- Niyaz (2005)
- Nine Heavens (2008)
- Sumud (2012)
- Sumud Acoustic EP (2013)
- The Fourth Light (2015)
with Roseland
- Roseland (2007)
Contributions
- "Form 3", "Form 6" Kala Rupa Explorations in Rhythm (Greg Ellis, 2001)
- "Inama Nushif" Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003)
- "Coma" Enter the Chicken (Buckethead and Friends, 2005)
- "Dem" Nefes/Breath (Mercan Dede, 2006)
- "The Cold Black Key" Where's Neil When You Need Him? (2006)
- 300 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Tyler Bates, 2007)
- "Nargis" Exilarch (Conjure One, 2010)
- Final Fantasy – Agni's Philosophy (2012)
- Thor: The Dark World (Brian Tyler, 2013)
References
- ^ a b "Azam Ali". Parstimes.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Azam Ali". 26 November 2002. Archived from the original on 26 November 2002.
- ^ "Niyaz: From Iran to India to Los Angeles". Npr.org. 12 October 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Programme 2017". Hollandfestival.nl. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ "Buckethead/Serj Tankian Collaboration Posted Online". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 5 October 2005. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ "Azam Ali, Portals of Grace". Rambles.net. 28 September 2002. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Billboard Online – Now www.billboard.com". 27 December 1996. Archived from the original on 27 December 1996.
- ^ "AOL Radio Stations | Free Internet Radio | AOL Radio". Spinner.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Children of Dune". 11 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011.
- ^ "WB Records to Release 300 Soundtrack". superherohype.com. 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ "Syphon Filter coming back to PSP with new features". joystiq.com. 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ "Agni's Philosophy – Final Fantasy realtime tech demo". YouTube. 5 June 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Azam Ali – Now that it's all done, I can officially..." Facebook. 6 September 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Azam Ali – My dear community-it is with great joy..." Azam Ali. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ "Azam Ali – Phantoms (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.