Sami Yusuf
Sami Yusuf's alternately lush and intimate, cosmopolitan songs reflect a music education steeped in both Western and Middle Eastern classical music and encompassing influences ranging from flamenco to Sufi music and U.K. contemporary pop. Born in Iran and raised in England, he emerged in the mid-2000s with albums like the devotional Al-Mu'allim (2005) and Without You (2009) -- both hits in the Middle East -- while gaining a reputation for stirring live performances. Yusuf's output in the 2010s was highlighted by 2014's intimate The Centre, 2015's Songs of the Way, and 2018's SAMi EP, which surprised with its more contemporary production palette. With his recordings increasingly favoriting live material thereafter, he released albums including When Paths Meet: Live at Holland Festival and When Paths Meet, Vol. 2 (from Paris) in the early 2020s.
Born in Tehran, Iran to Azerbaijani parents in 1980, Sami Yusuf was raised in London, England, where he studied by both Western and Middle Eastern classical music from an early age. Singing and playing multiple instruments as well as speaking multiple languages growing up, he went on to study composition at the Royal Academy and at Salford University, and compose music informed by styles as wide-ranging as Persian classical, qawwali, and flamenco. In 2005, he was featured on Mesut Kurtis' album Ṣalawāt for Muslim label Awakening Records, which released his own debut, Al-Mu'allim, as well as the follow-up, My Ummah, before the end of the year. Al Mu'allim proved a breakthrough in the Middle East, where the title track topped charts in Egypt and Turkey and paved the way for the broader success of My Ummah. Yusuf appeared on the soundtrack for the film The Kite Runner in 2007, and 2009's English-language Without You took on more Western adult contemporary sound while still incorporating Eastern influences. Yusuf claimed the latter album was released without his permission, and Awakening issued the concert album Sami Yusuf Live before they parted ways.
Yusuf established the label ETM International for the release 2010's Wherever You Are, which mixed contemporary singer/songwriter pop with more orchestral and percussive fare alongside themes of love and tolerance. His fourth official album, 2012's Salaam, went platinum in Southeast Asia within months of its December release. It included songs in support of the sufferers of recent natural disasters. Continuing a spiritual and compassionate vein, and still incorporating Western and Eastern modes and timbres, The Centre arrived on Andante Records in September of 2014. That year, Yusuf was named United Nations Global Ambassador for the World Food Programme.
With lyrics taken from poet and philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the mostly English-language Songs of the Way appeared on Andante and Dubai-based Music Box International in early 2015. His seventh album, Barakah, followed on Andante in early 2016. That year brought the release Yusuf concert albums from shows at London's Phoenix Theatre and at the Dubai Opera.
Contemporary production touches marked a shift in sound on the EP SAMi, released in December of 2018. He then paid tribute to his heritage with 2019's Azerbaijan: A Timeless Presence, which captured a performance in Baku on all Azerbaijani instruments (except for the piano). When the COVID-19 pandemic forced him off the road, Yusuf issued The House Concert from his home studio in May 2020. Combining eight original songs and four new arrangements of previously released material, the lushly arranged live album Beyond the Stars saw release in late 2022. Another live set, When Paths Meet: Live at the Holland Festival, came out in early 2023. The briefer, six-song When Paths Meet, Vol. 2, live from Paris (including "Meditations on Musette by Couperin"), followed in early 2024.
© TiVo Staff /TiVo
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When Paths Meet (Vol. 2)
Klassiek - Released by Andante Records on 28 feb. 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
When Paths Meet (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 13 jan. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beyond the Stars (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 10 nov. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Azerbaijan: A Timeless Presence (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 9 sep. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fiyyashiyya (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 10 nov. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Have Come Alive (Live)
Sami Yusuf, Nabyla Maan, Seyed Ali Jaberi
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 20 mrt. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Centre (Live in Samarkand)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 6 sep. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nasimi (Live Expo Version)
Sami Yusuf, Təyyar Bayramov, Mohammad Jaberi, Nabyla Maan, Seyed Ali Jaberi
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 29 sep. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Fire Within (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Divers - Released by Andante Records on 9 mei 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
One (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Divers - Released by Andante Records on 20 mrt. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pearl (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 6 okt. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum (Stepping into Light) (Live)
Sami Yusuf, Pooja Gaitonde, Asad Khan, Nabyla Maan, Təyyar Bayramov
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 18 aug. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Meeting (Live)
Sami Yusuf, Asad Khan, Guo Gan
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 8 sep. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Journey (Live)
Sami Yusuf, Guo Gan, Shirzad Fataliyev, Asad Khan
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 13 okt. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Meeting (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 30 jan. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beyond the Stars (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 15 sep. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Fire Within (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 22 sep. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Knowing One Another (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 20 okt. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ya Nabi (Stepping into Light) (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 25 aug. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
For True Lovers (Live)
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 1 dec. 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Only Knew Love (Live at the Holland Festival)
Sami Yusuf, Cappella Amsterdam, Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra
Wereldmuziek - Released by Andante Records on 8 dec. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo