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 Axiom in San DiegoVery enjoyable, overall By Farhad Bahrami May 3, 2002 The Iranian Axiom of Choice played a concert at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. The concert was part of the Mehregan celebration, and most of the proceeds went to the victims of the recent tragedies. Listen to selected tracks After opening remarks and a candle-lighting ceremony, the concert got under way. Axiom of Choice featured Mamak Khadem (vocals, harmonium, and daf), Loga Ramin Torkian (guitar & saz), Ruben Haratoonian (duduk, clarinet, and sorna), and Ando Harutyuyan (percussion). The opening piece, "Valeh" (poem by Rumi), is a song from Axiom's first album ("Beyond Denial") and started with a duduk solo (in Dashti mode) dedicated to the tragedy victims. This was the first glimpse of the technical mastery and emotional depth of Ruben's playing. As the piece unfolded with Mamak's voice soaring over Loga's guitar arpeggios and Ando's subtle drumming, it was apparent that Axiom is a tight band with well-rehearsed and well-structured songs that nevertheless leave room for spontaneity. "Rhythm Riddle", again from "Beyond Denial", starts in a 10-beat cycle and featured clarinet and voice. Enjoyable. Next Loga played his "quarter-tone guitar" - an instrument that, in his own words, is an ongoing project of his. Using it, he is able to play the modes of Persian music - in this instance, he played Shur. The piece started with a free daramad section, followed by a rhythmic one. Axiom's arrangement of "Baroon, Barooneh", a famous Kurdish folksong with several popular versions, is mellow but rhythmically subtle. Nicely placed between two uptempo songs. Finally "Meyeh Nab" (poem by Khayyam) feels like an upbeat folk tune and featured Loga playing the saz (a Kurdish long-necked lute). During the intermission, comments I heard from people were about the singer ("She's got a nice voice", "She sounds like Parissa"), the wind-player ("Amazing"), the tightness of the group, and the variety of material. The second half started with Sepehri's poem "Khaneye Doost Kojast" sung with minimal accompaniment. Effective. I don't remember much about the next tune "Ida" other than that I liked it. The next tune, "Sar Amad Zemestoun", was introduced as a old Armenian tune. For many of us this is a nostalgic piece, and Axiom's arrangement was simple and beautiful. What a haunting melody!  "Chaos in Paradise" (from their second album
"Niayesh") featured guest artist Zarrin on daf. The piece built up in intensity
before Mamak sang the Armenian-sounding melody repeatedly over the beat of the drums.
An appropriate ending.After the inevitable standing ovation, Axiom played "Meyeh Nab" once more. My own preference would have been a more rhythmic song with less "avaz", but I guess they weren't prepared for an encore. Overall this was a very enjoyable concert. I had seen Axiom before twice in L.A.: once in 1995 and once in 1998. Each time they've had a slightly different lineup of musicians, but have really been together musically, and have been able to bring music from their albums to life (as opposed to sounding like their recordings). I wish Axiom of Choice the best of luck, and hope to see them again soon in San Diego. Listen to selected tracks
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