Music Articles

شب همبستگی

عصر روز جمعه، مراسم شب همبستگی با زندانيان و دانشجويان سياسی، در پی فراخوان «ايرج جنتی عطايی»، ترانه‌سرای نامدار ايران، در مرکز آموزشی کارگران سوئد ABF در استکهلم برگزار شد. به همت کانون نويسندگان ايران در تبعيد، اين برنامه علاوه بر استکهلم، ديروز و امروز در دو شهر ديگر سوئد، گوتنبرگ و مالمو نيز برگزار شد. >>>

Summer in Beijing

Proving the universality of Sepehr’s artistry, his latest solo album “Summer in Beijing - One World, One Dream”, has been composed in celebration of the upcoming Summer 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. As he continues to tell stories through his instruments, in this album Sepehr uses just the right dose of traditional Asian sounds to create his stimulating musical conversations. >>>

An evening to be proud of

On March 14, the Oakland East Bay Symphony across San Francisco held a very special classical performance dedicated to Iranian composers of the modern era. I don't know of any other symphony in the west that has done this, or at least in a long time. This program was called "Notes from Persia", and featured a wonderful Iranian piano soloist, Tara Kamangar; an extraordinary vocalist, Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai; and the work of two important Iranian composers: Aminollah Hossein and Loris Tjeknavorian. Michael Morgan, the extremely talented and innovative conductor of Oakland East Bay Symphony, got the idea for this concert from one of his staff members, who is Iranian>>>

دریغ و صد دریغ از پارسالت

نگاهی به هنرمندان وطنی بندازیم که با این همه چین و چروک و در حالی که نا و توانی هم براشون نمونده عینک های ته استکانی شون رو پشت صحنه در می آرن و با هفت قلم رنگ و روغن و مژهای مصنوعی پنج سانتی و دندان های عاریتی به رنگ برف مثل طاوس با هزار عشوه و کرشمه عین از اونجای فیل افتاده ها میرن روی صحنه تا خیل عظیم مردمی که بیش از سی ساله در این قحط الرجال هنری حیرون و سرگردون موندن رو سرگرم کنن. علیا مخدرات بدلیل اینکه در همون دقایق اولیه اجرای برنامه خمیازه ها رو یکی پس از دیگری در میون جمعیت مشاهده می کنن وسط کنسرت مجبورن چندین بار به پشت صحنه برگردن تا برای ایجاد تنوع هم که شده کلاه گیس ها و لباس هاشون را تند و تند عوض کنن.>>>

Reng

Video>>>

Voice of Iran

Mohammad Reza Shajarian's voice streams out with such power and purity, embodying centuries of technique yet with such emotional texture as to leave the listener in absolute awe. It’s a voice hard yet clear like crystal, a crystal through which one can see three millennia of Iran’s history and culture, from Zarathustra at the dawn of spiritual man through to Baarbad in the Sassanid court, to Alexander’s sacking of Perspolise, to the invasion of the Arabs, to Rudaki and Avecina, to the Mongol plunder and Hafez’s great existential shrug, to Hasan Sabbah’s stubborn resistance at Alamut, the horse rides in the caucuses and the Shalimar gardens in Kashmir. It’s the voice of endurance in the face of pious repression and invaders’ brutality and regeneration through culture>>>

The Lost Legend

Three thousand people watched the New York City Ballet performance every night, a performance which invariably ended in standing ovations and a crowd that simply did not want to leave the packed New York State Theater. The promising young ballet dancer took his bows, with each bow intensifying the crowd’s applause and noises of approval and adoration, singling him out as “The Star” of the show. He was born to a family of artists, poets and writers in 1961. Afshin Mofid was one of two children born to the legendary Bijan Mofid and his wife, Farideh Fardjam, the first female Iranian playwright, prize-winning author, poet, and director>>>

I never waited for inspiration

To be honest, it's a mystery to me why my music is listened to more by a non-Iranian audience. I am not sure why that is the case. I've never specifically targeted one audience over another. Maybe it's because I sing in English, or maybe it's because the type of music I play does not sound like "typical" Iranian music... I've always been on the periphery of the Iranian community. I had always thought that the Iranian community both in Canada and in other countries listened to "typical" Iranian music. I didn't think an Iranian "underground" music scene really existed. It wasn't until I met the drummer of Kiosk, Shahrouz Molaei, that I began learning about the underground music scene in Iran>>>

Ey Sareban

Music video>>>

The quiet side of Pop

I discovered Barzin a few months ago when I was browsing the Internet. Barzin was supposed to open for Kiosk in Toronto and yet, I had never heard of him. I quickly Googled his name and found his web site. Lucky me, I found a few full-length mp3 files from his music there to listern to. I think the first few notes did it for me. I was rather surprised at the fact that an Iranian act would create music in the same style as bands such as Wilco, Mazzy Star, or even Radiohead. The next thing that surprised me was his smooth Canadian/American/English accent, to the point that I first had doubts about him being Iranian>>>

Effortless energy

The truth is I was a bit nervous at first. After all, it is not often that I have the chance to meet a total stranger whose voice has become a part of my every day routine. Odd as it may seem, this one dimensional nature of fame is an inevitable reality for all successful artists including the one I was about to interview. Adapting to increased recognition and celebrity is an adjustment that Arash Sobhani will most likely have to make in the upcoming years because both he and his band Kiosk have gained significant popularity and recognition recently across the US, Europe and Iran and show no signs of slowing down>>>

Nazeris on fire

There is such relief in reviewing a piece of music by Hafez and Shahram Nazeri, mostly because nobody who likes Shahram Nazeri will abstain from buying his latest work, even if I give it a bad review! My review is not a technical one, as I am barely qualified to be a good connoisseur of good Iranian music. I am a listener. The one for whom music is written (sometimes) and produced (always). As listeners, some music we hear with our ears, and some music we hear with our hearts. This man’s voice, and his young musician son’s composition, is something I listened to with my heart>>>

Freedom to explore

"I ended up discovering how many things we all share - especially in music. I first thought about doing these beautiful songs in their original languages but I soon realized that I can express myself more openly and effectively in my native language, Farsi. So I married the work of some Persian master poets such as Rumi and Shamloo to the melodies. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use musicians from Iran as well as non-Iranian musicians and I am so thrilled with the combination of players on this album from folk traditions, contemporary world music and from the jazz scene">>>

Unfinished story

Some time ago I saw an advertisement for a new album, of a new singer, on one of the Persian television channels in Los Angeles. Strangely, this time, there was neither any mention of 6/8 rhythms, nor was there a pick-up truck full of dancing girls behind the singer! As the singer sang calmly on the video, images of Persia and its people followed one another beautifully. The title of the album was "Neverending Story", better said "Unfinished Story" (Ghesse-ye Naatamaam), sung by Amir. This is his first album with cooperation of two significant figures in Persian pop music: Andranik and Shahyar Ghanbari. I became curious to hear the rest of the album but just as I had guessed, there was no sign of the CD in the Persian stores of Amsterdam.>>>

Sense of rebellion

A new generation of Iranian artists are striving for the mutation of our music. For those who have been waiting for a change, the time is now and there is a new wave of talented Rock and Hip-Hop artists reaching out to us. This goes a long way toward explaining the large majority of our Iranian pop music culture. However, every once in a while an album will make its way past reviewer after reviewer and deservedly earn high marks with nary a scratch. I believe this will be the story with Iran’s hip-hop messiah, Erfan, and his debut Album, “Az Khaneh ta Goor”>>>