Eric Clapton's Layla; Nizami's Layla; Majnun's Layla

Eric Clapton

"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally released by their blues rock band Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (December 1970). It is considered one of rock music's definitive love songs, featuring an unmistakable guitar figure played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, and a piano coda that comprises the second half of the song. Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon.

Inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison, "Layla" was unsuccessful on its initial release. The song has since experienced great critical and popular acclaim, and is often hailed as being among the greatest rock songs of all time. Two versions have achieved chart success, the first in 1972 and the second twenty years later as an acoustic "Unplugged" performance. In 2004 it was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and the acoustic version won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

Nizami Ganjavi

The title, "Layla," was inspired by The Story of Layla / Layla and Majnun (ليلى و مجنون), by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi of the Ganja (present day Azerbaijan) Seljuq empire. It is based on the true story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah (Arabic: قيس بن الملوح‎) from the northern Arabian Peninsula, in the Umayyad Caliphate during the 7th century. When he wrote "Layla," Clapton had been told the story by his friend Ian Dallas, who was in the process of converting to Islam. Nizami's tale, about a moon princess who was married off by her father to someone other than the one who was desperately in love with her, resulting in Majnun's madness (A name, مجنون, which translates to "madman" in Arabic), struck a deep chord with Clapton. (From Wikipedia)

"Rashid Khan"

Shojaoddoleh's Manor House in Ghoochan

"Rashid Khan" is an Iranian folk song from Ghoochan, located in northeast of Khorasn, Iran. In Ghoochan, the song is known as "Ghoochan Kharabeh" or "Ruined Ghoochan", but in the rest of Iran, it is usually referred to as "Rashid Khan." Here are two different performances of the song, Pari Zangeneh's "Rashid Khan" and a modern instrumental adaptation of the Khorasani classic by Shirin Delsooz.

Pari Zangeneh

Pari Zangeneh, an acclaimed Persian female vocalist, began her study of music in Iran at a very early age before continuing her studies in Italy, Germany, and Austria. Renowned for her unique opera-style music, Zangeneh’s beautiful music is both charming and soothing. Her musical portfolio is varied and complex. She has been given as much credit for generating interest in Persian folk music as for her solo performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Florida Symphonic Orchestra. Her voice has been heard around the globe: at the Palazzo Barbarini in Rome; the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; Lincoln Center in NYC; Herbst Theatre in San Francisco; Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Salmino, Paris; Hercules Hall, Munich; Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Los Angeles; to name but a few. She is the recipient of many international awards for her magnificent performances, including the First Medal of Work, the International Gold Medal for Voice, and the title of Ambassador of Good Will.

In 1971, unfortunately, Ms. Zangeneh lost her eyesight in an automobile accident. This incident did not diminish her enthusiasm and passion for life, nor her pursuit of excellence. In addition to her musical performances she has studied and researched the folk music of many countries, and has preserved a wealth of melodious songs and stories. She has authored several books all to critical acclaim. All her writings are available in Braille. (From Encyclopædia Iranica)

Shirin Delsooz

Shirin Delsooz is a Persian-Canadian musician based in Montreal whose influences range from alternative to traditional music. Her latest EP features her singing, playing mandolin and guitar, and also features musicians she met in the Irish and Quebecois traditional music scene.Shirin combines her Persian heritage and inspirations ranging from Celtic, Quebecois and Bluegrass genres into her songs.

A recent trip to Iran opened her eyes to a genre of Persian gypsy music. Her mind has been made since, her next music project will incorporate their charming accordians and upbeat percussive drums. (From CBC)

"Rencontre avic Aramech Dusdar" by Ali Amini and Farhad Farhadi, 2000 (Farsi with French subtitles)

Aramesh Dusdar

Aramesh Dustdar (born in Tehran) is an Iranian philosopher, writer, scholar and a former philosophy lecturer at Tehran University.Dustdar received a PhD degree in philosophy from University of Bonn. He is known in Iran as a secular Heideggerian philosopher (in contrast to Reza Davari Ardakani who is a religious Heideggerian philosopher). (From Wikipedia)


"[Aramesh Dusdar] belongs to the same generation of Tehran's academic "philosophers" in the early 1970's, people like Shayegan, Davari, Enayat, Nasr and a few minor figures around them, who were thinking within the same problematic discourse that Ahmad Fardid (via Al-e-Ahmad) laid its parameters out: the destiny of our culture against the onslaught of Western civilization; questions of History (capital H), faith, modern science and technology and what lays ahead, our future in the world. Aramesh Dustdar was the black sheep of the gang, the antichrist among the gatekeepers of Hekmat-e-Elaahi.

Then something strange happened which is not dissimilar to Germany in the 30s. Amazing parallels! History took a grave turn and everybody got caught up in its tremors. We don't get in to that story but one immediate result was a moratorium on thinking, the kind which had just started.

Regardless of what we think of these individuals and the weight and caliber of their thinking (I happen to think the majority were ersatz-philosophers), we should grant them that they were the first group of post-Mashrootiat intellectuals who could be called "thinkers" or "philosophers." All the others before them were Adeebs, Mohaghgheghs, encyclopedists and Alems, and of course a mass of journalists that we can loosely call our modern intelligentsia.

But among that crew of thinkers, Aramesh Dustdar was the oddball; he did not have the nativist peasant attitude sporting a tassbih, clearing his throat with verses of Hafiz (or hooey from Sepehri) every step of the way, and he certainly was not a dilettante-tourist-philoshophe with Parisian accent searching Illuminations from the East. He was a true German mandarin of strong atheistic stripes, a heavy-weight. And he was bent to grapple with all those mystifications generally known as farhang-e Irani-Islami. Only one person before him had done something similar, a serious wake-up call, little understood up until even today: a man named Ali Esfanidari, otherwise known as Nima Youshij." (From "Demanding criticism" by Abdee Kalantari)

"Simin Daneshvar: Early Iranian at Stanford"; a Documentary by Sharif University of Technology Association (Farsi)

Simin Daneshvar

Simin Dāneshvar (Persian: سیمین دانشور‎;‎ April 28, 1921 – March 8, 2012) was an Iranian academic, novelist, fiction writer and translator. Daneshvar had a number of firsts to her credit. In 1948, her collection of Persian short stories was the first by an Iranian woman to be published. The first novel by an Iranian woman was her Savushun ("Mourners of Siyâvash," 1969), which has become Iran's bestselling novel ever. Daneshvar's Playhouse, a collection of five stories and two autobiographical pieces, is the first volume of translated stories by an Iranian woman author. (From Wikipedia)

"Modern Warfare: Iran/Iraq 1980-1988" by Chris Sheridan

 

A comprehensive commentary of the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988, which covers the highlights of this bitter conflict from the Iraqi blitzkrieg on seven Iranian cities to "The Fountain of Blood," where nerve agents and mustard gas were used to murder thousands.

Iran / Iraq 1980-1988: The war began September 22, 1980 when Iraqi troops launched a full-scale invasion of Iran. Iraq expected that Iran was weak after the Iranian Revolution, so Iraq would face little resistance. The war lasted eight years and there were heavy losses on both sides, with 600,000 Iranians and 400,000 Iraqis killed. Iraq's ruthless dictator shocked the world by using cyanide gas against the civilian Kurds - all captured by ITN British News cameramen. But despite Iraq's initial successes, the Iranians rallied and, using their much larger population, were able by mid-1982 to push the invaders out. In June 1982, the Iranians went on the offensive, but Iraq, with a significant advantage in heavy weaponry, was able to prevent a decisive invasion breakthrough. However, Saddam Husein's ambitious plans for developing Iraq into a world power came to a halt. Many believe this war was the precursor of the next war, the invasion of Kuwait and "Desert Storm."

Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988: A Few Images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parisa; "O, Sage" (Ala Ey Pir-e Farzane)

Parisa Vaezi

Fātemeh Vā'ezi (Persian: فاطمه واعظی‎) (born 15 March 1950 in Tonekabon, Iran), commonly known by her stage name Parīsā (Persian: پریسا‎), is a Persian Classical vocalist and musician.

A student of maestro Mahmoud Karimi, Parisa has published several albums and performed numerous concerts throughout the world, sometimes with Dastan ensemble. Her major debut in Tehran was a concert at the Iran-America Society arranged by Lloyd Miller, a disciple of Dr. Daryush Safvat. After that concert, Miller, through writing reviews and other articles in various Terhan newspapers and magazines, was able to influence the Ministry of Culture to allow Parisa to be transferred from there to Dr. Safvat's Center for Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music where her skills as a purely traditional dastgah vocalist would enhance their excellent instrumental ensemble.

After she was established at the Center, Miller convinced the CBS Iran A & R person to produce tapes of Parisa with the Center's instrumental ensemble the most sought after being in Dastgah-e Mahur and Dastgah-e Nava. These became hit releases and Parisa was invited to perform Chahargah at the famous Shiraz Arts Festival and other major venues. Her best work was with the Center where now famous virtuosi such as Dr.Dariush Talai (Tar (lute), Setar), Hossein Alizadeh (Tar,Setar), Jalal Zolfonun (Setar)and Majid Kiani (Santour) were established. (From Wikipedia)

The following YouTube includes her "O, Sage," a golden classic which gave momentum to her popularity. "O, Sage" is performed in Nava, a challenging mode in Iranian traditional music.