Presented by ArtStage & Vaak Records
Artstage & Vaak Records present Quartet Diminished’s first concert in London, featuring the exceptional Colin Bass as a guest musician.
Established in 2013 in Tehran, Iran, Quartet Diminished is dedicated to crafting musical moments that draw inspiration from both the individual perspectives of its members on contemporary music and the collective vision that shapes the group as a unified entity, reflecting their perception of the surrounding world.
The ensemble’s musical repertoire spans from precisely defined compositions to spontaneously improvised phases, influenced by a diverse range of musical genres. Quartet Diminished transcends the confines of any specific idiom, drawing inspiration from various sources such as 70’s Art-Rock, ethnic ritual music, 20th-century Avant-garde, contemporary Jazz, and more.
Colin Bass, with a five-decade career, is renowned for his diverse musical contributions. A member of Camel since 1979 and 3 Mustaphas 3, he collaborated with global artists like Oumou Sangare and Stella Chiweshe. Bass released three solo albums and three under Sabah Habas Mustapha. His recent work, Still (2020), is a collaboration with Daniel Biro. As a record producer, he’s left his imprint on albums by The Klezmatics, Sambasunda, Maija Kauhanen, and others.
‘In the past decades, few groups have reflected the voices that surround them in such an enhanced way as Diminished. In oppressed societies, the imagination of the mind is at odds with the eyes and ears, what the mind sees and hears are hazy memories in search of a dream from the past, yet it’s floating in the present.’ Hossein Alizadeh
‘Quartet Diminished is an accomplished group with a distinctive collective sound . There are just enough Middle Eastern sounds to remind the listener where they are from, but they also have an international identity – and a skill set comparable to musicians anywhere in the world.’ (Mark Sullivan – All About Jazz Magazine)
‘Overall, the sophistication of the performances suggests the quartet’s name is a misnomer. Rather than diminishing sounds, the band is augmenting all timbres into a satisfying Persian-Western fusion.’ (Ken Waxman – The Whole Note Magazine)
‘Quartet Diminished is first and foremost a battle scene, where notes, modes, rhythms bring their history in and meet. But wouldn’t this mix of influences risk to fall into chaos? Musicologist Carl Dalhaus once told that we should not talk about ‘identities’ in music, better to use the word ‘Wesen‘. The translation of this german term might be ‘being’, or better ‘consciousness of being’.’ Marcello Nardi
This event will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.