Articles

لطیفه ای که دیگر ما را نمی خنداند

در گویا نیوز خبری دیدم مبنی بر بهایی بودن هادی خرسندی، کلیک کردم و سر از اصغرآقا در آوردم. رفتن به اصغرآقا آسان است ولی بیرون آمدن از سایت خرسندی، که همواره با خرسندی همراه است، مکافات دارد. سخت است از آن همه مطالب دلچسب و طبع روان و قلم شیرین و بانمک دل بکنی! به هر حال، شایعه برای ایرانی جماعت صنار خرج برنمی دارد. هر کسی بنابه نحوه ی تفکر خود، به دیگری تهمت می زند و در سایت اینترنتی و یا در روزنامه و یا مجله ای منتشر می کند و قانون هم در آن کشور گل و بلبل، فقط جیب وکلا را پر می کند و لطیفه ایست که دیگر ما را نمی خنداند.>>>

Ham fal o ham tamasha

When my friend Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi asked me to write a piece about the Shahnameh Millennium Concert, I thought it might be best to interview the composer of “Persian Trilogy,” Behzad Ranjbaran. The name rang a bell. I knew Behzad from ages ago, when I had met him and his brothers in Washington. They had composed a song titled “sar oumad Zemestoun, shekofteh Baharoun”(Winter has passed, here comes the spring). The melody reminded me of old times when we were student activists. Behzad Ranjbaran has come a long way from being a lover of music at a young age to teaching at the Juilliard School of Music. He is also the recipient of the Rudolf Nissim Award for his violin concerto>>>

Making music, not war

On Saturday, June 28, when the fear of looming war against Iran was on the rise, here, in Prague, Iranian and Israeli musicians came together to perform in a warm and memorable concert in a prestigious and the oldest Czech world music festival, Respect, in a Woodstockesque flavor and atmosphere. Saeed Shanbehzadeh, a maestro of Ney-Anban (or as we call it in southern Iran: Ney-Anbooneh), after an hour of playing Bushehri ethnic music together with his 15 year old son Nagheeb, a very skilled drummer and percussionist, invited two Israeli percussionists participating in the festival to join them and let the people listen to an improvisation>>>

The fourth option

The Islamic Republic would actually welcome either of two misguided U.S. strategies — negotiations or war. Both strategies will strengthen their repressive control over Iran and will allow them to extend their strategic hegemony over much of the Middle East, into parts of Central Asia and the Indian Ocean region. The Islamic Republic has a long record of using negotiations as a tactic of buying time to further its illicit policies. Besides, official negotiation means officially recognizing the legitimacy of the other side — which is something the clerical regime has longed for. Official negotiations will also be interpreted as the U.S. government’s concession to the clerical regime. Do the prime supporters of global terrorism deserve rewarding?>>>

دو توصیه و یه پند غذایی!

۱۲۷ گروهی است متشکل از یک سری هنرمند خوش سلیقه که چند وقتی است کارهایشان را این ور و آن ور می شنویم، ولی به اعتقاد من کارهای قبلی ایشان پرسه زدن در وادی های مختلف موسیقی بود در جهت اندوختن تجربه و پخته شدن و اشباع شدن از ایده های نو و «همه اش دود بود، خبری نبود از کباب» ! پس از مدتی تجربه کردن امکانات مختلف موسیقی، این دوستان به یک ساختار موفق و نوآورانه رسیدند و بالاخره جواب دادند که «من کی ام». آلبوم خال پانک به اعتقاد من تمام شاخصه های یک کار نوآورانه را دارد، کاری که در عین داشتن پیچیدگی های یک اثر هنری، آنقدر ساده و قابل هضم است که به محض شنیدن آن آدم احساس می کند که با این آهنگ خاطره دارد.>>>

No ceiling

It was pretty natural for me to start drawing on my Persian heritage in the composition of my music. All artists establish a palette and a vocabulary for their work that is based on what they've heard and seen through their lives. I was born in NYC and grew up all around the East Coast with Iranian parents, so I heard Persian music, Persian poetry, alongside American music and poetry. It's been a pretty natural for me to draw on both cultures in my work. It feels more authentic to blend the two than to exclude one or the other in my work. >>>

الکساندر

الکساندر نه ربطی به اسکندر مقدونیه دارد و نه شبیه ریچارد برتون است. او هیچ ارتباطی به "اسکندرنامه" هم ندارد. الکساندر خوشگل نیست ولی جوان است و برومند و خیلی خوش مشرب و خوش تعریف. الکساندر همیشه در حال گفتگو با کسی است و همیشه موضوعی مناسب برای گفتگو پیدا می کند. من و الکساندر با هم فقط سلام و علیک داریم و هیچ چیز از هم نمی دانیم. ما حتا اسم یکدیگر را هم نمی دانیم. اولین باری که با هم سر کار حرف می زنیم و اسمم را می پرسد به شکل حیرت آوری متوجه می شوم که بلد است نامم را تلفظ کند؛ و "ه" را از توی اسمم حذف نکند. تعجبم را بیان می کنم: "فرانسوی ها بلد نیستند اسمم را تلفظ کنند، تو چطوری توانستی؟" >>>

Simply dazzling

Ferdowsi packs so much literature in his verses that storytellers, singers, percussionists, and painters have traditionally helped unpack his work for us. For a thousand years, this collaboration of the letters and the arts in ghahveh khaneh (coffee house) settings has upgraded and refreshed the Iranian national identity. To commemorate the Shahnameh millennium, the Seventh Biennial Conference of the International Society for Iranian Studies will include a multi-media concert combining Shahnameh storytelling (naghali), Shahnameh-inspired orchestral music, and visual presentations of scenes from the epic>>>

Fresh addiction

Last weekend I met two (wonderful) 127 band members Sohrab Mohebbi and Salmak Khaledi at the home of BeyondPersia.com's Lalé Welsh and Amir Salamat near San Francisco. We listened to their entire new album "Khal Punk" and I was quite devastated by their musical range (mixing rock, rap, jazz, Iranian... ) and powerful lyrics. Their songs are addictive, and smart, and fun, and full of energy and lots and lots of plain truth. Ladies and gentleman, we have another super band! >>>