Azam Ali

Azam Ali
Azam Ali, Niyaz concert, Kavehaz Restaurant & Bar, NYC, September 17, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Azam Aliafgerad
Born	3 October 1970 (age 46) Tehran
Genres	Rock, new-age, world, Sufi
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Hammered Dulcimer, Frame Drum, Riqq, Zils, Chan Chan, Daf, Tanpura, Psaltery, Bendir
Labels	Narada, Six Degrees Records
Associated acts	Vas, Niyaz, Roseland
Website	Official website

Azam Ali (Persian: اعظم علی‎‎) is an Iranian American singer and musician. As of 2013, Ali has released eight full-length albums with the bands VAS and Niyaz, as well as four full-length solo albums.

Born in Tehran on 3 October 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in Panchgani, India. Ali and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1985, after which Ali discovered the santour. Ali then studied the santour under Persian master Manoochehr Sadeghi, which led to the rediscovery of her voice. She now lives in the Canadian city of Montreal.

In 1996, Ali formed "alternative world" group VAS with percussionist Greg Ellis after meeting the year prior at a concert at UCLA. She and her husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, are also part of another group, Niyaz, an Iranian acoustic electronic group.

In 2005, Azam Ali was featured in Enter the Chicken, a 2005 Buckethead album, singing the song "Coma" with Serj Tankian.

In 2002, Ali released her first solo album, Portals of Grace. This was followed up with 2006's Elysium for the Brave, which reached #10 on Billboard's World Albums chart on 23 September 2006. Ali's third album, From Night to the Edge of Day (2011), is a collection of lullabies inspired by her son.Lamentation of Swans - A Journey Towards Silence (2013), Ali's fourth album, is a joint effort with her husband Loga R Torkian that began in 2009 and explores the intimate spaces they had to carve out for themselves to escape the demands of touring.