Rarely is “beautiful” the most accurate or informative descriptor for anything, especially music. Even so, something is striking about In Between, the latest work from singer and composer Elana Sasson, that is hard to describe any other way. Sound, sentiment, and intent all work in exquisite aesthetic and affective concert here, the layering of these aspects giving the album multiple dimensions that are sincerely beautiful from start to finish. In Between is indeed a rarity, and Elana Sasson and her quartet perform with the depth it takes to anchor the beauty of their output in artistic and personal truth.
The scope of In Between is expansive. Its colors and textures derive primarily from Sasson’s Persian and Kurdish heritage, as well as her formal training (Sasson earned a master’s degree at Berklee College’s Valencia campus). Further blurring any imagined Eastern-Western divide, she works with a standard jazz lineup (Santiago Bertel on piano, Manos Stratis on double bass, and Victor Goldschmidt on drums) and features a small but substantial range of guests (Matthieu Saglio on cello, Kaveh Sarvarian on the West Asian ney flute, and Miron Rafajlovic on trumpet) that facilitate a profound stylistic flexibility. It’s an expert ensemble, more than capable of matching Sasson’s delicate emotional nuance as a vocalist.
That nuance is audible throughout. Sasson’s honeyed voice is the main attraction here, winding its microtonal way through lullabies, folk songs, and poems in Kurdish, Persian, and Ladino. She is well attuned to the power of subtleties and the strength that comes from instruments working together. There is wistfulness to her rejoicing as she sings Sephardic wedding song “Ay Ke Buena”, nostalgia tempering the sparkling keys of “Akh Leil”, heartrending power in the intertwining of her voice and Saglio’s cello on “Laye Laye” or Sarvarian’s ney on “Bahari Digar”.
On final track “Hêvî”, an adaptation of a piece by late Kurdish poet Arjen Arî, she follows the dynamics of the text through cold sorrow, righteous fervor, and hope over a storm brewing through the heavy drops of Stratis’ bass, the thunder of Goldschmidt’s kit, and Bertel’s urgent keys. It’s a complex masterpiece of a finale that puts the core group of players and their tight chemistry on full display.
Sasson explores her ideas of connection, rootedness, and learning about self and community with captivating passion. This music enchants not for the sake of enchanting but, it seems, because each musician is so invested in their shared creation. It’s hard to overstate how far that goes, how bold the shades of emotion are that come through in even the most gentle elements of this warmly spacious work. Elana Sasson is brilliant, and In Between is yet another elegant work from her quartet that treats tradition and high art with dignity and reverence while also finding refreshing new ways to present it.
Beauty does not automatically make music good or interesting; good and interesting music is not always beautiful. In Between sits at the unlikely nexus of all of these things.