Ajdad – Ancestors | Echoes of Persia
Amir Amiri Ensemble
Fifth House FH-101 (amiramiriensemble.bandcamp.com/album/ancestors-ajdad)
Amir Amiri Ensemble’s latest recording project is nothing short of masterful. Sadly, this celebration of Iranian/Persian culture could never have been manifested under Iran’s current theocratic, repressive regime. Amiri, an icon of the santur, and his gifted collaborators, Reza Abaee (ghaychak), Omar Abu Afach (viola), Abdul-Wahab Kayyali (oud) and Hamin Honari (tombak, dayereh and daf) have gifted us with 12 original compositions that explore the ancient connections between Persian and other Middle Eastern musics – relationships that were obliterated following Iran’s 1979 cultural and political upheaval.
Amiri wears several hats here, as performer, producer, arranger and composer, and the project is rife with musical complexities rendered on primarily traditional instruments by his coterie of skilled musicians. This CD is an emotional journey framed by a series of original compositions. In particular Baran (Rain) contains diatonic descending lines intertwined with unison motifs, invoking the cleansing, healing rain, woven into a fabric of melancholy. Amiri and Afach shine here, with stunning, facile technique. Another delight is Raghseh Choobi (Dance of the Wooden Sticks), which clearly and harmonically illustrates the joy of the unfettered Iranian and other Middle Eastern peoples. Also stunning is the melancholy Sarzamineh Madaran (Towards My Motherland) – a moving lament that will resonate with every newcomer and ex-patriot. Afach is featured in a solo viola sequence here, filled with sonorous, motifs of lament and longing.
Kayyali displays breathtaking technique in his solo sequence, Sarzamin (Spirit of Our Land) on a stringed instrument that pre-dates the Western Lute, and the ensemble unites on the rousing Raghseh Sama (Sama Dance) utilizing dynamics and incendiary percussion to flame the excitement. This gorgeous disc closes with the title track, an ode to the ensemble’s ancestors – brave, courageous and artistic, whose unique DNA lives on in the Iranian people.
