100 Greatest Persian Pop Songs of All Time (Farsi)

The Persian Traditional Music Golha Project: Jane Lewisohn

Jane Lewisohn

Jane Lewisohn lived in Iran during the 1970s for six years and is a graduate of Pahalavi University, Shiraz, Iran. She has been involved in the research and promotion of various aspects of Persian Studies for the last three decades. Since 2005 she has been  directing the Golha Project under the auspices of the British Library, London, and the Music Department of SOAS, University of London. She has archived and digitalised the whole archive of the Golha radio programmes broadcast on Iranian Radio from 1956 through 1979. She is now working in collaboration with the IHF to make this Golha Archive and all the related research concerning the Golha Archive available over the internet at  http://www.golha.co.uk. (From SOAS University of London)

The Golha (‘Flowers of Persian Song and Music’) radio programmes were broadcast on Iranian National Radio for 23 years from 1956 through 1979. They comprised approximately 850 hours of programmes made up of literary commentary with the declamation of poetry, which is also sung with musical accompaniment, interspersed with solo musical pieces. The programmes themselves were the brainchild of Davoud Pirnia, a one-time Assistant Prime Minister, who in addition to being a well-known politician and judge, was an enthusiastic patriot and scholar who harboured a deep love for Persian culture and its rich literary and musical traditions. When he retired from political life in 1956, for the next eleven years he devoted himself tirelessly to producing of the Golha programmes. (By Jane Lewisohn)

Persian HipHop 021 to LDN: Reveal Poison at TEDxBathUniversity

Reveal Poison

Reveal Poison is an Iranian born, London raised hip-hop artist, writer and ethnomusicologist. Growing up while travelling back and forth between such contrasting urban environments as Tehran and London has provided him with a sense of dual identity for most of his life. He is currently studying Mmus Ethnomusicology at SOAS.

www.myspace.com/revealpoison

In this TED Talk, Reveal Poison presents a short history of Iranian hip hop and Persian rap. In this account,  he talks about how underground Iranian rappers borrowed African-American rap but Iranified the tunes through employing Iranian musical instruments, tapping to old traditions of Persian poetry to write their  songs, and adding a Persian mystic colour to their music. Reveal Poison, in this presentation, speaks about the process of shaping Persian rap from the point of view of an insider, a short history of the foundation of Persian rap by a Persian-British rapper.

Amir Sadeghi Konjani: The Bone, Performance Art (2011)

Setareh Pessyani, Amir Sadeghi Konjani, Pegah Ahangarani

Amir Sadeghi Konjani, conceptual artiste, pianist and composer has received performances of his works by eminent musicians including the conductors Peter Manning, Gregory Rose , Andy Morely, violinist Darragh Morgan, harpist Sioned Williams, The Finzi Quartet, and the poet Ahmad Shamlou at prestigious venues such as The QEH London ,the Ether Festival , the USA and Canada, and on television broadcasts. Born in 1983, Amir received Masters Degree course under the tutelage of Dominic Murcott, Stephen Montague and Edward Jesson, and is the recipient of a scholarship from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. In 2005, the UNESCO National Music Committee of Iran selected him as a ‘notable composer’, and he was also an award winner at the 24th international Fadir Music Festival. His first CD released in 2009 worked with the well-known Iranianpoet Ahmad Shamlou on a creative presentation and subsequently produced further CD of contemporary music ”Metaphor till eternity” for the same Iranian company Mahoor. In recent years Amir’s work have been given much exposure both within Trinity, as well as further afield During 200910- he worked with harp players from Trinity on extended techniques, including experimenting with the use of a cello bow on the wire strings, and further exploration of sounds emanating from wire cello string tied between two harps, also played with a cello bow which has been presented at Royal Academy of Music.Concept and Composed by:Amir Sadeghi KonjaniCast:Pegah AhangaraniSetareh PesianiFlutists:Mona Taherian, Asal Hanachi, YaldaEhsani, Sachli haghighat talab,BaharBehzad, Sahar Jahantash, shararehsheikhan, shabnam sarmadi, FahimehNasiri,Shirin azadi, Elika Malek, Asalkheradyar, Pegah TaslimiPiano:Paria Shokouhi –Shahrzad SafaieCello:Maral MohammadiConsultant Director:Salar Salari, Maral Mohammadi, Amirhossein davani, Ankido Darash, FoadMokhberi, Mohsen RastegarProduction Designer:Amir Hosein Davani, Amir SadeghiKonjani, Ali SadeghiTechnical Director:Amir Hosein BabaianCostume Designer:Neda NasrPhotography:Salar SalariProducers:Maryam Sadeghi ,Aun Gallery andKh.A.V Group.Special Thanks to:Tansy Davies, Mira Calix, DominicMurcott, Nasim Bagheri, NooshinRahimi, Maryam Salari, NedaGhanizadeh, Mehran Danaie, Bahman Mazaheri. (From Aun Gallery)

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.

Sima Bina

Sima Bina

A lifetime of dedicated work on Persian folk music has made Sima Bina a legendary characterin the history of Iranian music.

Her singing careerbegins at the age of 10 with a popular radio program for children. Her musicaltalent drives her into taking music more seriously. She studied and perfectedPersian classical music with some of the great masters, and when she attainedthe artistic maturity to decide on her musical path, she chose to devote herlife to reviving the folk music of her homeland.

The fascination for Iranian folk music and songs had been ignited by her father, her first music teacherand songwriter. But, ironically its development into a lifetime commitment coincidedwith a historical time when her musical activities were banned in her homeland. Sima, however, maintains that it was ablessing in disguise. She says, “Whenyou can’t perform, people are taken away from you. So your focus shifts moreseriously to what you search for in life.”

In more than thirtyyears, by traveling to some of the most remote places all over Iran, Sima Bina collectedan assortment of almost forgotten folk songs and melodies. By recomposing the folksongsand tunes for her performance, Sima has formed her own distinctive style in Iranianfolk music.

Since 1993 Sima Binahas accepted invitations to perform her music worldwide in prestigiousfestivals and organized concerts. The worldwide recognition her music receivestoday is the materialization of over forty years of her devotion to Iranianfolk music.

While pursuingIranian folksongs, Sima often came across a variety of ethnic lullabies whichshe added to her collected works. This collection finally led to her book, IranianLullabies in 2009. In this book, SimaBina not only shares her findings, her perception, the scores and visualexpression of the selected lullabies with mothers, she also presents fortyoriginal Iranian lullabies in four CDs in which her vocal is sometimes blended withthe singing of the mothers who had song the lullabies to her in different partsof Iran.

Sima continues topresent Iranian folksongs in World Music festivals and concerts, while furtherexploring hidden folksongs in the vast plateau of Iran. She is currently working on Balouch music andmaintains documenting her findings of Iranian folksongs and music. (Sima Bina's Official Website)

SIMORQ (Introduction) by Hamid Motebassem

Hamid Motebassem

Hamid Motebassem was born in 1958 in Mashad, Iran. He was raised in a musical family, where his brother was a violinist and his first teacher was his father, Ali Motebassem who played the Tar.

Motebassem studied in the Tehran School of Art and the Conservatory of Persian Music. He was a member of the Chavosh Cultural Center where he taught music. One of the original members of Aref Ensemble, he founded Dastan Ensemble as well as Ensemble Chakavak upon immigration to Germany in 1986.

Hamid Motebassem is the founder of the Society of Tar and Setar and has since 1994 organized annual seminars dedicated to the two instruments. He has performed on numerous albums of contemporary Iranian composers. His own works include compositions for traditional instruments, the recordings Bamdad; The Scent of Norooz; The Song of the Sea; Saz-e No, Avaz-e No, Dastan Trio; Dastan Duet; Hanaie and Shurideh, which won the title“Musical Shock“ in the music journal, Le Monde and received the 2003 Best Music of the Year Award from the French Ministry of Culture. (From Motebassem's website)

Simurgh (Persian: سیمرغ), also spelled simorgh, simurg, simoorg or simourv, also known as Angha (Persian: عنقا), is the modern Persian name for a benevolent, mythical flying creature. The figure can be found in all periods of Greater Iranian art and literature, and is evident also in the historical places of medieval Azerbaijan, the Byzantine empire, and other regions that were within the sphere of Persian cultural influence. (The silk textile representation is probably a senmurv, (a dog-headed barking eagle), not a simurgh but another Persian mythological creature.

The name simurgh derives from Middle Persian Pahlavi sēnmurw (and earlier sēnmuruγ), also attested in Middle Persian Pāzand as sīna-mrū. The Middle Persian term derives in turn from Avestan mərəγō Saēnō "the bird Saēna", originally a raptor, likely an eagle, falcon or sparrowhawk, as can be deduced from the etymological cognate Sanskrit śyenaḥ "raptor, eagle, bird of prey" that also appears as a divine figure. Saēna is also a personal name which is root of the name. (From Wikipedia)

Bushehri Music and Dance in Louvre Museum: A Performance by Shanbehzadeh Ensemble



Persian Gulf Coast in Bushehr



Bushehr (Persian:بوشهر /Būšehr/), pop. 165,377 (in 2005), is a city on the southwestern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of Bushehr province. Its location is 28° 59' N, 50° 49' E, about 1,281 kilometres (796 mi) south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.  (From Wikipedia)



Shanbehzadeh Ensemble

Shanbehzadeh Ensemble (Persian: گروه شنبه زاده) is an Iranian folk band, formed in Bushehr in 1990. The band offers a rare aspect of the traditional music and dance of the Persian Gulf, more specially of the province of Bushehr, south of Iran and bordering Persian gulf.

The principal instruments of the ensemble are the neyanbān (bagpipe), neydjofti (flute), dammām (drum), zarbetempo (percussion), traditional flute, senj (cymbal) and boogh (a goat’s horn). The Ensemble has delighted audience in Iran, Europe and North-America. (From Wikipedia)

GEES (TRESSES) by Mohsen Namjoo

THE NON CONFORMIST…

Namjoo’s unconventional approach to the dogma of traditional music in formal institutions pushed him out of the mainstream where he found a vast audience with his debut album Toranj. He single handedly took on the mainstream on several fronts transforming the traditional persian style into a modern rendition that attracted younger generations while simultaneously blending with western traditions of Rock and Blues. Namjoo did not stop with his great success as a musician and began to take on the dogma of traditional music lyrically. First with unconventional renditions of classical and neo-classical persian poetry and gradually with his own sophisticated, yet youthful and approachable sense of word play. There are no other examples of the Namjoo phenomenon in the contemporary Persian music scene. Given the circumstances in Iran, it is only natural that an artist like him would be lucky to find himself outside of the country, far from the hands of repression.

Mohsen Namjoo continues to connect with the hearts and souls of music lovers throughout the world. Payam Entertainment is proud to present a series of new albums in the coming months and launch a North American tour of Namjoo in “A Minor”, a major live production with his ensemble band.

Hailed as “the Bob Dylan of Iran” by the New York Times, Mohsen Namjoo is a visionary artist who speaks for and touches the souls of today’s youth. Seamlessly blending the Classical with the Modern, the Eastern with the Western, the ancient with the current, Mohsen Namjoo is a musical maverick. A Non-conformist who not only takes on the centuries old traditions of Persian music, but also his own approach to composition, style and sound. Namjoo in “A Minor” showcases his mastery as a vocalist, composer and Setar player with a full ensemble band of talented artists to create a truly unparalleled musical experience for those who think “World Music Is Not Enough”! (From Mosen Namjoo's official website) 

Mohsen Namjoo

About "Gees (Tresses)":

Squeezing the ancient tunes of traditional Iranian music out of a guitar, Mohsen Namjoo -- called by some the “Iranian Bob Dylan“, performs his one-man show in an underground concert. His music evokes a merry vibration thumping under the coat of solemnity the streets of Tehran are wrapped with. The piece that starts with a typical image in mystic Persian poetry -- the beloved’s flying black locks, with “beloved” connoting the Creator. The poetic cliché breaks into pieces when the register of the language is all of a sudden catapulted into a colloquial Farsi, of frequent chat-up lines and borrowed Western words like “blonde.” The burlesque ends with a sarcastic one-word finale lamentingly trilled in a traditional mode: “hairdryer.” The creaky frame of strict traditionalism caging the range of guitar strings and the naturalism of informal modern Farsi is symbolic of the worn wobbly social and political structures which continue to awkwardly contain the liveliness of a pragmatic people. (From "Drums of War Muffling Iranian Moderates" by Amir Azizmohammadi)

Gholam Ali Pouratayee, Khorasan Music

Maestro Gholam Ali Pouratayee is one of the biggest names in the history of traditional Khorasani music. He lives in Torbat Jam.

Gholam Ali Pouratayee

Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan (Persian: خراسان کهن یا خراسان بزرگ) (also written Khurasan) is a historical region spanning what are now northeastern Iran, most of Afghanistan, and the southern parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikstan. The name "Khorasan" is derived from Middle Persian khor (meaning "sun") and asan (or ayan literally meaning "to come" or "coming"), hence meaning "land where the sun rises". The Persian word Khāvar-zamīn (Persian: خاور زمین), meaning "the eastern land", has also been used as an equivalent term.

Khorasan in its proper sense comprised principally the cities of Nishapur and Tus (now in Iran), Balkh and Herat (now in Afghanistan), Merv (now in Turkmenistan), and Samarqand and Bukhara (now in Uzbekistan). However, the name has been used in the past to cover a larger region that encompassed most of Transoxiana and Soghdiana in the north, extended westward to the Caspian Sea, southward to include the Sistan desert and eastward to the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan. Arab geographers even spoke of its extending to the boundaries of ancient India, possibly as far as the Indus valley, in what is now Pakistan. Sources from the 14th to the 16th century report that Kandahar, Ghazni and Kabul in Afghanistan formed the frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan.

In the Islamic period, Persian Iraq and Khorasan were the two important territories. The boundary between these two was the region surrounding the cities of Gurgan and Damghan. In particular, the Ghaznavids, Seljuqs and Timurids divided their empires into Iraqi and Khorasani regions. The adjective Greater is added these days to distinguish the historical region from the Khorasan province of Iran, which roughly encompasses the western half of the historical Khorasan. It is also used to indicate that ancient Khorasan encompassed a loose collection of territories individually known by other popular names, such as Bactria, Khwarezmia, Sogdiana, Transoxiana, and Sistan or Arachosia.

Torbat-e Jām is an ancient city in the Razavi Khorasan state in north-eastern Iran. It is about 160 kilometres (99 miles) southwest of Mashhad, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Taybad, and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the Afghanistan border. There are many ancient places there, like the mazar (tomb) of Sheikh Ahmad Jami and Prince Ghasem Anvar. It includes many villages, such as Bezd, Mahmoodabad, Nilshahr. (From Wikipedia)

Here is a vocal performance by Gholam Ali Pouratayee accompanied by his legendary dutar.

Silk Road Project: Kayhan Kalhor Talks about the Kamancheh

Woman playing the kamancheh in a painting from
the Hasht Behesht Palace in Isfahan Persia, 1669.

Kayhan Kalhor (Persian: كيهان كلهر), born 1963, is an Iranian kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Persian music.He is from a Kurdish family.

Kayhan Kalhor was born in Tehran. He began studying music at the age seven. By the age of thirteen he was playing in the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran. Continuing his music studies under various teachers, he studied in the Persian radif tradition and also travelled to study in the northern part of Khorasan province, where music traditions have Kurdish and Turkic influences as well as Persian. At a musical conservatory in Tehran around age 20 Kalhor worked under the directorship of Mohammad-Reza Lotfi who is from Northern Khorasan. Kalhor also travelled in the northwestern (Kurdish) provinces of Iran. He later moved to Rome and Ottawa to study European classical music.

The kamānche or kamāncha (Persian: کمانچه ) is a Persian bowed string instrument related to the bowed rebab, the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and also to the bowed lira of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of the European violin family. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow: the word "kamancheh" means "little bow" in Persian (kæman, bow, and -cheh, diminutive). It is widely used in the classical music of Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. (From Wikipedia)

Ali Asghar Bahari

Ostad Ali Asghar Bahari (1905 – June 10, 1995) was an Iranian musician and kamancheh player. He was born in Tehran and started his music lessons under his grand father Mohammad Taghi Khan, who was a kamancheh player as well. After three years, his father sent him to his uncles to learn more advanced techniques. Asghar had three uncles (all mother's brothers): Akbar, Reza and hassan. They were all famous kamancheh players. His first major success was with Ebrahim Khan Mansouri's Orchestra at the age of 18. He started his own music school in Mashhad, then he moved back to Tehran and became an kamancheh instructor in Honarestan under Ruhollah Khaleghi. He played with most famous Iranian musician such as Hossein Tehrani, Ahmad Ebadi, and Abolhasan Saba. He also was a professor of music in Tehran University for a few years. He toured France, Belgium, Germany' Italy' England and the United States. He died in Tehran. (From Wikipedia)