La Belle et La Bête is Sussan Deyhim’s most recent recording project. The project brings together a compilation of vintage international romantic tunes and some original compositions. In this jazz-influenced cycle of songs, Sussan is collaborating with a stellar world-class jazz trio including Mitch Forman on Piano (Mahavishnu), John Leftwich on Bass (Chet Baker), Steve Haas on Drums (John McLaughlin), and very special guests including Hamid Saeedi on Santour.
Deyhim calls La Belle et La Bête “an homage to my deep love affair with the brilliant American tradition of Jazz and many collaborations with some of the great jazz musicians.” She continues, “But it is also the celebration and a great pleasure of singing some of the timeless international vintage tunes. It is a song format album and for someone who primarily is a composer of more complex vocal and musical compositions, singing these tunes is an unusual and courageous thing to do. Sometimes the most simple musical pieces require that much more musical subtlety. For example, ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen has been sung so many times, so it did require courage to do another interpretation of it, same as Marabeboos...why do these songs again if you don’t have a personal approach to doing something personal?”
La Belle et La Bête is a truly collaborative effort. “Since I moved to New York City in the 1980’s, I’ve had the blessing of being surrounded by great musicians from all disciplines. I always found myself closely collaborating with some of the great jazz musicians in New York City and Europe,” Deyhim says. The album includes Deyhim’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “All I Really Want to Do,” which was originally released as part of Amnesty International’s charity release Chimes of Freedom. “All I Really Want to Do” was produced by Golden Globe-winning composer Richard Horowitz and mixed by Bob Clearmountain at The Village Studios. The soulful lyrics for “Take You Home,” a song dedicated to the refugee crisis, were co-written with Emmy nominee Jeannie Lurie, and the track was co-produced by Grammy winner Itai Disraeli. “Estate,” an Italian standard, was arranged by John Beasley and John Leftwich. Deyhim’s version of “Marabeboos,” a beloved Iranian romantic tune, was created in collaboration with composer and pianist Arshid Azarine. Other featured guest stars include Lili Haydn, Satnam Ramgotra, Hamid Saeidi, Greg Ellis, Herman Matthews, MB Gordy, Mehdi Bagheri, Jon Ossman and Bruno Ralle.
While Sussan Deyhim is known for her cutting edge experimental vocal works internationally, with this song- oriented project she will embrace the multi cultural/lingual/musical influences from across the globe including classic popular tunes from the 1950’s and 1960’s Iran.
Associate producers, Shari Rezai and Ameeta Nanji Cover Image: Maryam Eisler
Graphic Design: Kourosh Beigpour
Accessories: Simon Azoulay
La Belle et La Bête track list
Deyhim co-exec-produced La Belle et La Bête with the instrumental support of best-selling author and scholar activist Nina Ansary and her partner Richard Horowitz.
FOR ALL BOOKING REQUESTS, PLEASE CONTACT US THROUGH THE CONTACT PAGE.
