Zafáran’s three-part suite “Üsküdar / Mi Scordu / Apo Xeno Topo” follows a shared melody through its Turkish, Sicilian, and Greek forms, placing them in deliberate sequence to expose their modal, rhythmic, and linguistic transformations. The piece opens with “Üsküdar’a Gider İken,” framed by syncopated frame drum patterns and maqam-based ornamentation on qanun. “Mi Scordu” slows the tempo, recasting the tune as a melismatic vocal duet in Sicilian dialect. The final section, “Apo Xeno Topo,” begins in free meter before resolving into a 9/8 dance rhythm drawn from northern Greek folk traditions.

The suite appears on Zafáran, the ensemble’s debut album, recorded in Rome in 2022 and out 27 June 2024. Based between Boston and Rome, Zafáran was founded in 2020 and includes Carmen Marsico (voice), Björn Wennås (classical guitar, mandola, chitarra battente), Dan Meyers (recorders, flutes, duduk, ciaramella), and Davide Roberto (frame drums and percussion). Their repertoire spans Southern Italian chant, Sephardic song, Romani lament, and Eastern Mediterranean folk, combining archival research with modal improvisation and ensemble writing.

Songs are presented side by side, allowing contrasts in scale, rhythm and phrasing to speak for themselves. The group’s name, from the Arabic–Persian root for saffron, also refers in Lucanian dialect to the sweet red peppers of Senise — a symbol of adaptation, cultivation, and layered identity.

You can find more info, listen to and follow Zafáran on the band’s official website.