Ton's Musical Musings: Saeed Shanbehzadeh

Who would have thought there are bagpipes in Iran? I certainly didn't. Thanks to Womex, this piece of ignorance is a thing of the past. Saeed Shanbehzadeh and his troupe from the south of Iran played a dazzling set in the Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville last Thursday. In contrast with the subtle melismatics of Persian classical music, the combination of repetitive drum patterns and ecstatic dancing gives their music an almost African flavor. Saeed started the performance with a solo on the neyjofti (a double flute), using his own cheeks as a "bag" for these "pipes".

After this spectacular demonstration of circular breathing he took out the neyanban (bagpipes) and played them while jumping around the stage in a frenzy, propelled by driving rhythms from a twin drum played by his young son Naghib, who can hardly be older than ten. The ensemble concluded its performance with all four men drumming, in the Sufi tradition of increasing intensity to invoke a trance. Saeed Shanbezadeh hasn't yet signed a recording contract, but more information about his ensemble and its music can be found on www.zamanproduction.com and on www.mondomix.com.