Home » Jazz Musicians » Hashem Assadullahi

Hashem Assadullahi

Hashem Assadullahi is a saxophonist, bandleader and music educator in New York City. Hashem has performed music ranging from the big band repertoire of the swing era, to straight-ahead styles, to contemporary projects performing the works of Ornette Coleman, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Zorn, and Tim Berne. In 2008 Hashem formed his Quintet, featuring some of the best musicians in the Pacific Northwest, along with trumpet icon Ron Miles. The group has since expanded to a sextet and has recorded two albums: Strange Neighbor (8bells) and Pieces (OA2 Records, 22097). Hashem has lead groups featuring some the world’s greatest talents in Jazz, including Alan Ferber, Ben Monder, Mark Ferber, and Rich Perry. In addition to his own releases, he has had the opportunity to record with several ensembles, appearing on the albums Live at Jo Fed’s with the Poisonous Birds (June 2008), The Turning Point with the Douglas Detrick Quintet (8bells, 015), as well as Walking Across (8bells,016), Rivers Music (Origin Classical, 33012), Awake, Awake (pending release), and The Bright and Rushing World (pending release) with the Anywhen Ensemble. In addition to performing, he has held positions teaching music courses and directing numerous ensembles at various institutions including Mahidol University in Salaya, Thailand, Lane Community College, and the University of Oregon. Hashem frequently serves as a clinician and adjudicator across the United States and abroad. Hashem received his Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Texas in Arlington and a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Oregon.

John Yao and His 17 Piece Instrument: Points In Time

Read "Points In Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 4, 2025

The insuperable spirit of swinging big-band jazz is everywhere apparent on Points in Time, the seventh recording by New York-based composer, arranger and trombonist John Yao, and the second with his marvelous 17-Piece Instrument, a decade after its well-received debut, Flip-Flop. (See Tao, 2015). As on that earlier album, the playlist consists of seven of Yao's original compositions (and one outlier) written with the band in mind to exemplify in musical terms experiences and emotions Yao has ...

Album Review

John Yao and his 17 Piece Instrument: Points In Time

Read "Points In Time" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
July 13, 2025

Trombonist and composer John Yao presents a heartfelt and personal retrospective with Points In Time. This ambitious album delves deeply into the emotional and professional journey he has undertaken over the past twenty years in New York City. Leading his precisely coordinated ensemble, aptly called His 17-Piece Instrument, comprised of talented musicians from various points along Yao's timeline. The eight original compositions in this session stem from key moments in Yao's life and artistic development. This work is not just ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone: Caught in the Rhythm

Read "Caught in the Rhythm" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
September 28, 2023

The connection between poetry and jazz music is a delicate one. It has been documented so infrequently, in performance and recordings, that one still conjures the flicker of an image of Jack Kerouac reading in some dark Greenwich Village cafe with Steve Allen or Zoot Sims, surrounded by beret-wearing, cappuccino-sipping beatniks. The work of Fresno-based saxophonist Benjamin Boone has assisted in widening that view through four albums recorded for the Origin Records label, including the fourth, Caught in the Rhythm ...

Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poets Are Gathering

Read "The Poets Are Gathering" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
December 31, 2020

Saxophonist Benjamin Boone continues his ambitious foray into jazz and poetry, this time recruiting an impressive cadre of poets for his aptly entitled release, The Poets are Gathering (Origin, 2020). The union of poetry and jazz has never been so powerfly presented, reflecting the past year of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement, the universal role of the poet, and the power of art and voice to raise awareness and inspire change. The album employs the likes of US Poet ...

Album Review

Hashem Assadullahi: Pieces

by Mark Corroto
April 24, 2013

Saxophonist Hashem Assadullahi and his core band returned to the studio to release an exceptionally strong sophomore effort with Pieces. The Texas born-Northwest cured-New York-based musician revealed his penchant for melody on his prior release Strange Neighbor (8bells, 2009). Here he builds upon that foundation with a scattering of themes from pop tunes, avant-garde leanings, and some deftly orchestrated group improvisations. Assadullahi's returning partners here are guitarist Justin Morell and trumpeter Ron Miles, who yearly receives the “artist ...

623

Album Review

The Hashem Assadullahi Quintet: Strange Neighbor

Read "Strange Neighbor" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
October 14, 2009

Oregon-based musician and educator Hashem Assadullahi introduces a wealth of attention-grabbing points of view into this quintet date, featuring eminent trumpeter Ron Miles. It's a democratic, group-focused modus operandi, spinning with variable harmonic and rhythmic underpinnings, where Assadullahi is more concerned with compositional depth and use of space. Still, the soloists receive ample breathing room to improvise and engage in thematic expansion.

On “Hypothesis B--The Wildflower," the quintet merges a sense of quietude via Justin Morell's simple guitar ...

195

Recording

Hashem Assadullahi Returns from Thailand for Release of Debut Album Featuring Ron Miles

Source: All About Jazz
May 8, 2009

Hashem Assadullahi and his quintet, featuring Ron Miles, celebrate the release of their new CD, Strange Neighbor, a well rounded jazz release with an occasional sense of humor. Denver-based trumpeter Ron Miles, has also appeared with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bill Frisell, Don Byron, Gravitas Quartet, and many others. The Quintet also features a critically acclaimed rhythm section including guitarist Justin Morell, bassist Josh Tower, and drummer Jason Palmer. The CD features ten original compositions, six of which are inspired ...
read more

“Assadullahi’s complex musical persona yields numerous dividends on this multifarious engagement, where jazz music is presented with a medley of captivating propositions.” -Glenn Astaria AAJ.com

“The ten tracks have variety that runs from attractive melodies to free playing, slapstick humor, 1920s German cabaret kitsch and what could pass for part of the soundtrack of an Italian Western…This is a substantial debut album for Assadullahi.” -Doug Ramsey- Rifttides

“I put this album on in the car and didn’t take it out for days – reveling in the subtle surprises inherent in the compositions. Assadullahi’s use of space on tunes like “Stale Fortune” and the Wayne Shorter-esque opener “Hypothesis A – The Feign” is exemplary and the band interplay admirable. Miles is great, as we already know, but Assadullahi shows a keen sense of melody and some killer chops as well…Thoughtful music, with energetic bursts; I can’t wait to hear more from these exciting young players.” -Brad Walseth http://www.JazzChicago.net

Primary Instrument

Saxophone

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

B.M. Music Education University of Texas at Arlington 2004 M.M. Jazz Studies Performance University of Oregon Has held teaching postions at University of Oregon, Lane Community College, Mahidol University, Shedd Institute for the Arts, South Eugene Highschool, as well as teaching private saxophone and improvisation lessons for over ten years.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Hashem has appeared as a clinician and guest lecturer working with big bands, jazz combos, chamber ensembles, wind symphonies, & individuals, working on areas including aural skills, transcription, rhythmic style, melodic improvising, composition, developing practice routines, developing a personal sound, critical listening, learning tunes, fundamentals and more.