Years active 2005–present Website www.niyazmusic.com | Labels Six Degrees Records Past members Carmen Rizzo | |
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Origin Los Angeles, California, United States (2004) Members Azam Ali, Loga Ramin Torkian, Carmen Rizzo, Habib Meftah Bouchehri Genres World music, Folk music, Electronica, Sufi music Albums The Fourth Light, Sumud, Nine Heavens, Niyaz, The Best Of Niyaz Profiles | ||
Niyaz (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 Ramin Torkian, of the Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice. In 2013, Carmen Rizzo announced via Facebook that he was retiring from Niyaz. "Niyaz" means "yearning" in Persian, Urdu and Turkish.
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Niyaz's music, described as "mystical music with a modern edge", is primarily a blend of Sufi mysticism and trance electronica. Niyaz adapts Persian, Indian and Mediterranean folk sounds, poetry and songs including the poetry of Sufi mystic Rumi, with Western electronic instrumentation and programming.
Their self-titled debut album, released in 2005, combined 13th century Sufi and Urdu poetry with "swirling, hypnotic beats". Their 2008 follow-up album, Nine Heavens, featured two discs; the second disc contained acoustic renditions of the tracks on the first disc.
Their third album, Sumud (صمود), released in spring 2012. A companion piece to the album, an acoustic EP with six songs, was released 19 March 2013.
Niyaz dunya
Albums
Songs
Beni BeniNine Heavens · 2008
Sabza Ba NazThe Fourth Light · 2015
ParishaanSumud · 2012