Persian mysticism blends with flamenco. Original compositions inspired by the poetry of Sohrab Sepehri, Hafez, and Rumi and the Persian roots of Spanish flamenco.

11 MP3 Songs
WORLD: World Fusion, WORLD: Persian contemporary



Details:
In this album, Iranian-American composer, santur virtuoso, and vocalist, Roya Bahrami introduces an original approach in how music, vocals, and poetry carry a dialogue; in some instances in a counterpoint; at other times in a sequential scheme.

In her solo virtuoso pieces, Bahrami creates a minimalist approach to improvisations in Persian modes providing a contemplative space covering the main themes of the mode while staying within the range of a normal songâs length thereby making the spiritual and emotional essence of this ancient music accessible to a wider world music audience.

Furthermore, Bahrami introduces a new art form, creating a duet for santur and chant performed by the same musician.

And yet another novelty lies in the way she uses various elements of the Spanish flamenco tradition in her compositions leading to a new genre Persian-Flamenco fusion, available in the various tracks of the album.

In this album, Bahrami sings and plays all the instruments, which are the Iranian Persian dulcimer santur, and the hand drums daf and zarb as well as the Yamaha MOTIF-ES8 for synthesized guitar, piano, strings, Afro-Cuban and Middle Eastern drums, and various mega voices.

Born and raised in Iran, Roya Bahrami moved to the US in 1977 and has studied the Persian classical repertoire, radif, with Maestros Lotfi, Alizadeh, and Talai, santur with Shahariar Saleh, Esmail Tehrani and Kazem Davoodian; piano and vocal training with Golnoush Khaleghi; flamenco baile with Lourdes Elias, Jaime Coronado, cante with Marija Temo, Jesus Montoya, and palos with Richard Marlow; daf with Esfandiar Shah-Mir.

For the lecture-recital circuit, Ms. Bahrami has developed a series of programs: âClassical Music of Persiaâ, âMusic and Spiritualityâ, and âUnderstanding Multi-Cultural Identity through Artistic Expressionâ, âMusic of Zaryab, Traces of Persian Melodies in Andalusiaâ.

She has appeared in solo and ensemble performances at the Smithsonianâs National and Freer Galleries, The Library of Congress, The Arts Club of Washington, several universities and cultural institutions in Oregon, Washington, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Columbia where she makes her home.

In April 1999, she appeared in a solo performance on the live TV program Imaginaria in Spain. Later that year, she released her first fusion album, Probe, in collaboration with composer and guitarist Said Amintinat, percussionist Barry Dove, vocalist Humayun-Khan Ferzad, and tabla player Debu Nayak. Upon an invitation by the renowned flamenco artist, Carmela Greco, Ms. Bahrami started creating a new genre, Persian-flamenco fusion and appeared on stage with her during 2004-2005.

Persian Santur dates back to 7th century BC and is the great grand parent of piano with derivatives such as the Romanian cimbalom and the hammer dulcimer. It is made with aged walnut wood with seventy-two strings arranged in eighteen quadruple sets and is performed by using two handmade wooden mallets.