Seyed Jalaleddin Mohammadian & Seyed Khalil Alinejad - Ashnayane Rahe Eshgh - Mystical music from Kermanshah, Iran - Cassette from Iran

Seyed Jalaleddin Mohammadian, a singer from Kermanshah, was in the 1980s and 1990s a quite well known classical and mystical (Irfani) singer. He published a couple of cassettes (partly republished as CDs) of classical Iranian music and several cassettes (only one of them published also as CD) with the typical mystical or Irfani music from Kermanshah in Iranian Kurdistan, based on the music of the Ahl-e Haqq sect for which the Tanbur (a long-necked lute) is sacred and plays an important role in their rituals. But in contrast to the ritual music of the Ahl-e Haqq, which is a solist music of a master Tanbur player singing mystical poems from their tradition, Jalaleddin Mohammadian and some other singers like Shahram Nazeri used Sufi poetry by some of the great Persian Sufi poets like Hafiz and Rumi (Molana) and were accompanied by an ensemble consisting of several Tanbur players and several Daf players - the Daf is the big Kurdish frame drum originally used in the Sufi rituals of the Qadiri dervishes. Here we present a very beautiful cassette from the mid 1980s by Seyed Jalaleddin Mohammadian and the famous Tanbur player Seyed Khalil Alinejad (1968-2001). They are accompanied by an ensemble of Tanbur and Daf players.

Side 1 (28:27)
Side 2 (28:59)

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Note that on the cover a Tar is pictured, but the instrument played is the Tanbur.

Here a foto of Seyed Khalil Alinejad with his Tanbur.

Raga Maqam Dastgah (contact: info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com) carries a huge selection of CDs of classical Iranian music, music of the Ahl-e Haqq and a number of great Tanbur players. They also have several CDs with the Dhikr rituals of the Qadiri dervishes from Iranian Kurdistan, the origin of the big frame drum Daf. 

Parisa & Ensemble Darvish - Bayat-e Tork - Copy of an Iranian Cassette from the 1970s

Parisa (or Parissa), born 1950, is one of the foremost female singers of Iran. She studied with the famous Radif master Mahmud Karimi (1927-1984) and with Ostad Dariush Safvat (born 1928). We present here a cassette we bought in the 1980s in an Iranian shop in London. This cassette has better sound quality than other edtions of the same recording circulating in the Iranian community, even better than the CD. This cassette, manufactured in England, contains the mode Bayat-e Tork recorded in Iran before the revolution. See more on the artist on her website: http://www.parissa.org/05_biography/biography.htm

The Ensemble Darvish was directed by Santoor player Reza Shafieian (born 1941). The Tar and Setar player might be Dariush Tala'i.

Bayat-e Tork (both sides joined into one track) (38:02)

1. Tasnif Mehrabani

2. Chaharmezrab Santoor

3. Avaz (singing) & Nay

4. Avaz & Tar (in reality Setar)

5. Avaz & Kemencheh

6. Tasnif Hamchu Farhad Shadeh

7. Chaharmezrab Nay

8. Zarbi Tork

9. Avaz & Tar

10. Tasnif

11. Zarbi Reng

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Hassan Kassa'i (1928-2012) - Iran - Le Ney - LP published in France in 1973

Hassan Kassa'i, the great Iranian master of the Ney, passed away on 14 June 2012. 

Hassan Kassa'i was born on 25 September 1928 in Isfahan, Iran, and died on 14 June 2012 (aged 83) in his home town Isfahan. He was considered the greatest master of the Iranian Ney, an end-blown reedflute, of the century. He started learning the Ney from Mehdi Navai at the age of 12. He also learnt the basics of traditional Persian music and the Radif from master Abolhassan Saba. As he was an exceptional improviser, his performances always sounded fresh. Amongst his best students are Mohammad Mousavi and Hossein Omoumi.

In the last ten years more then 15 CDs of his music have been published in Iran, some with recordings from the 1960s or early 1970s, some with recent recordings. They can be obtained from: info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com
See also his website: http://www.kassaimusic.ir

Here we present in his memory his only LP published in the west:

Side A:

Dastgah-e Shour (22:33)

Side B:

Dastgah-e Mahour (23:14)

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Zulfaqar 'Askarian - Taknavaz Dotar - Dotar Solo - Dotar music from Torbat-e Jam, East Khorasan - Cassette from Iran

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Hatem Askari Farahani - Radif Avazi Be Revayet-e Hatem Askari Farahani - Set of 4 cassettes - Iran

Hatem Askari Farahani  (Vocal)

Dr. Dariush Safvat (Setar)

Vocal Radif



"Two important lineages of vocal radif-ha exist.  The most influential and widely disseminated is that of Abdollah Davami (1891-1980), particularly as it was transmitted through his pupil Mahmud Karimi (1927-1984).  This radif is characterized by its cogency and (particularly Karimi’s) self-similarity: its dense transposition and recycling of  motives, tahrirs, and entire phrases.  The second line of vocal radif transmission is relatively little known.  The repertoire preserved by Hatam Askari Farahani (b. 1933) extends back through his teacher Seyyed Zia Rasa’i (a.k.a. Zakeri) to Seyyed Abdol Rahim, an influential and somewhat legendary master active at the turn of the 20th century.  Askari deliberately restricted his transmission of this very large repertoire to preserve its integrity from the abuses that can be associated with published radif-ha.  Askari finally recorded this radif but it remains unpublished as yet.  It is characterized by its large size due to the greater number of gusheh-ha, their lengthier duration, and the inclusion of rhythmic types that are normally only associated with instrumental radif-ha.  Askari’s nephew Farhad Farhani believed that the transmission of this radif included anecdotes describing the circumstances regarding the creation of particular melodies—a quasi-epic account of Persian music history (personal communication, 1998)."

From "Persian Vocal Music: Avaz" by Rob Simms

(http://www.yorku.ca/robsimms/word/Published_Writings.doc)

A short version consisting of parts of this vocal Radif was eventually published in Iran on 4 cassettes. This is the one we post here. There exist also complete recordings of Dastgah-e Mahoor on 6 cassettes or CDs and Dastgah-e Nava also on 6 cassettes or CDs. These were only distributed privately amongst students of Hatem Askari and are extremely difficult to get.

Volume 1:

Side 1:

Mahur (27:58)

Side 2:

Bayat-e Tork & Afshari (30:24)

Download Vol. 1

Volume 2:

Side 1:

Shur (27:55)

Side 2:

Shur continued, Abu 'Ata, Dashti (29:22)

Download Vol. 2

Volume 3:

Side 1:

Chahargah (29:46)

Side 2:

Nava (28:15)

Download Vol. 3

Volume 4:

Side 1:

Homayun (28:24)

Side 2:

Bayat-e Esfahan, Segah (29:24)

Download Vol. 4