Azam Ali, lead singer for Niyaz(نياز), has one of the most seductive and effortlessly disciplined altos active on the world stage. Of Persian descent, but raised in India, her music is the very definition of the term "World Fusion." Niyaz is an Iranian musical trio created in 2005 by DJ,programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali's husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, of the Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice. "Niyaz" means "yearning" in both Persian and Urdu.
Niyaz's music, described as "mystical music with a modern edge", is primarily a blend of Sufi mysticism and trance electronica. Niyaz adapts Persian, Indian and Mediterranean folk sounds, poetry and songs including the poetry of Sufi mystic Rumi, with Western electronic instrumentation and programming.