"Majnooni"

If Kurdish music from Iran seems like a stretch for Afropop, we plead guilty, but this album is a stunner, and connects richly with some of the Sufi music we've been covering in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as with ideas about improvisation we'll be exploring in future programs. Kayhan Kalhor is best known for his work with the improvisatory Indian/Iranian group Ghazal. He is probably the world's greatest master of the bowed spike fiddle called kamancheh. In his hands, this instrument has a wide range of voices, from a whispery, overtone-rich shimmer, to a searing, full-throated cry.

In these ten pieces, Kalhor digs into his Kurdish roots, in particular Iranian tanbur tradition. The tanbur, played here by Ali Akbar Moradi, is a jangly, long-necked lute, capable of sounding like a Turkish saz when strummed, or a North Indian sarod when played melodically. There is also percussion, played by Pejman Hadadi on the gobled-shaped tombak drum, and there is sweet, if mournful, singing by Moradi on two tracks. But the emotional core of these performances lies in the interaction between the two string players. On maqam evokes a love affair between flower and earth, beginning with a a kind of heaving, lurching rhythm as the tanbur strums, the kamanche sings, and tombak (goblet drum) tumbles and pauses by turns.

Some of these pieces, like Ghazal's, center around a simple, repeating melodic riff that serves as the basis for free-flowing improvisation. "Majnooni" is a rhythmic improvisation on an ancient theme rooted in the patter of the tombak. Here, Kalhor's tone is so rich, and his phrasing so poetic that the music feels like a direct link to a beating heart. The kamancheh's fragile overtones lend a certain delicacy to Kalhor's lines, but the playing is always robust, a magical combination. The album culminates in "Choopi," a swirling instrumental dance with a powerful pulse that conveys the concentrated trance ecstasy of a whirling dervish performance.

These days, international news is filled with tales of the divided Kurds, embattled and wary in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and elsewhere. This album reminds of the peoples' soul, their connection with Sufi mysticism and its tradition of transcendence through art, all of which finds eloquent expression on this rare and beautiful recording.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org