The Whole Music Experience

World Mahsa Vahdat & Mighty Sam McClain Love Duets across Civilizations A Deeper Tone of Longing Kirkelig Kulturverksted Missing the boat on the duets of Mahsa Vahdat (Iran) and Mighty Sam McClain (US blues) 2009 album, Scent of Reunion , I’m coming on a board with a new album of love duets, A Deeper Tone of Longing .   Featuring Farsi poetry by Mohammad Ibrahim Jafari and English poetry by founder of Kirkelig Kulterverksted, Erik Hillestad poetry almost eclipses the passionate vocals and musical arrangements by Knut Reiersrud (a Norwegian bluesman).   Actually, when you look at the musicians on this album, it feels like KKV brought in the whole team in fusing blues with Iranian classical music--something that looks like an impossible dream on the surface, but succeeds. When You Came shows off the bluesy side of the equation until a lonely ney (Iranian reed flute) comes in followed by Vahdat’s haunting vocals.   The song even features R...

Suzanna Owiyo My Roots Kirkelig Kulturverksted Skruk and Mahsa Vahdat In the Mirror of Wine Kirkelig Kulturverksted The Norwegian label Kirkelig Kulturverksted champions women and has been doing so for decades. In the few years that I’ve been reviewing recordings produced by KKV, I’ve come across several compilation albums that brought women musicians from around the world together to fight injustice and celebrate their womanhood. The women that appear on the label lean towards community organizing, championing worthy causes, and employing their musical gifts to better the world, especially their corner of it. I’m thinking of Palestinian vocalist/composer Rim Banna who visits the refugee camps and loans her talents to furthering peace for the Palestinians, and I’m thinking of the Iranian sisters Marjan and Mahsa Vahdat who defied the ban on Iranian women singing in public and gave a concert at the Italian Embassy in Tehran ( Songs from a Persian Garden )....

  image missing Kayhan Kalhor Brooklyn Rider Silent City World Village I have over the years heard several recordings by Iranian kamanche master Kayhan Kalhor. The first recording to capture my ears was the recording, Rain by Ghazal which casted an enchanting spell over me. I have also heard his work with The Dastan Ensemble and his recording The Wind with Erdal Erzincan. Kalhor has proven not only his mastership over his exotic instrument, but also his adaptability to a variety of musical genres. That is not to say that he performs his instrument in a variety of genres, but that he fuses his tradition with those from other cultures. And since I have grown to admire Kahlor's work, I feel excited when I see his name gracing yet another CD cover. On Silent City , once again we see Kalhor fusing Persian classical music with another music tradition--European classical meets the Silk Road. The musicians in Brooklyn Rider fall into an experimental-avant-classical style, that ...

Mamak Khadem Jostojoo (Forever Seeking) Banyan Tree Production I discovered Iranian-American Mamak Khadem's voice in 2002 when I received Axiom of Choice's Unfolding in the mail. But many of you have probably heard her beautiful voice complimenting television show and movie soundtracks. Based in California, Mamak has kept herself busy contributing her vocal talents to many projects, including her newest CD, Jostojoo (Forever Seeking) . In her liner notes, Mamak reflects on the recording. "In the past few years, while traveling to Greece, Turkey, Armenia, and various parts of Iran, I became aware of the many similarities among these cultures and their music." She sought that common ground while infusing music from those cultures with the inspiring words of Iranian poetry, especially illustrious poetry of the ancient Persian poet, Rumi. None of this comes as a surprise to me since Mamak and I had spoken about Rumi's poetry briefly during a 2002 intervi...