RISE
Photo credit: Florin Constantin Photography
We have been molded in different forms and shapes, with different names, not in order to create separation between us, but rather in order that the sons and daughters of humankind can know, understand, and appreciate each other in the full unfoldment and blossoming of their diversity, thus bestowing upon each and every human being a unique gift and mission.
Our languages have been created different, with a wide range of words, sounds, and letters, not to generate obstacles or barriers in communication and interaction, but rather in order for the multicolored children of humankind born in various circumstances, landscapes and environments, to speak the language of their motherland and have a fluid conversation with their surrounding nature.
Let us rename borders ! Let us envision them as ever flowing interconnected rivers running through the veins of mother earth’s body, not as sharp blades tearing our ties to smithereens, cutting through the sacred body of mother earth.
I call you fourth, oh, child of the One Spirit, son or daughter of the mother/father Creator, let us spread the wings of love, let us rise above all the duality and division, and return to the all-embracing unified mother/father presence.
Do not fear, no need to worry, it is not that hard. Just let yourself carried away, gliding on the glowing ancestral harmonics of my tanbour, uplifted by the sweet familiarity of Jezebel‘s voice, singing in that primordial language of my heart and yours.
Let your soul be caressed and comforted by the soft gentle chant of the mother, and the wise empowering guidance of the father.
Let your soul melt in our delicate melody !
ALI ASGHAR RAHIMI
Persian Sufi / Mystical music composer, Master of the Tanbour and vocalist. Former student of Master Seyed Amrollah Shah Ebrahimi and Master Taher Yarveysi, he has been composing, researching, teaching and performing Persian spiritual music and ancient Maqams of Tanbour for overt 25 years.
​
His mastery of instrumental technique and Persian musical language, his original creativity and the deep knowledge of Maqam repertoire have helped him create a new and distinct style in the Persian mystic music by blending emotion and spirituality with innovative techniques of composition, improvisation and performance.
​
Rooted in a rich and ancestral heritage, his music - profound, spiritual, compelling, entrancing - draws inspiration from the poetry of great mystical poets Mawlana Jalaludin Rumi and Ain-al Quzat Hamedani. Skillfully combining ancient Maqams of Tanbour, complex free-flowing melody lines and soul-stirring poems sung in a soft yet powerful and deep vocal style, he creates tapestries of sound, word and emotion that touch the heart and inspire contemplation and meditation.
​
His artistic work has offered audiences around the globe a deeper appreciation of Persian Sufi music and poetry. As a solo artist, accompanied by his Ensembles or joined on stage by some exceptional foreign musicians, he performed in Lebanon, Turkey, Nepal, Morocco, Qatar, Russia, UK, Finland and extensively in Romania where, for the past 5 years, he has been exploring, creating and developing diverse innovative projects and creative musical collaborations with well-known musicians such as Mircea Kiraly, Attila J Szabo, Calin Grigoriu, Andrei Kivu, Cristi Horia,, Maria Chifu, Izabela Barbu, Grigore Lese.
​
For full biography click HERE. For more information please visit the official website www.aliasgharrahimi.net
Links to Social Media:
JEZEBEL
Izabela Barbu, known as JEZEBEL is one of the most powerful, sensitive, angelic, deep voices of Romania.
​
A graduate of Faculty of Economic Studies, she was since a very early age passionate about music and art. After 20 years of working in the banking system, her true calling sprouted stronger than ever. Izabela had the amazing courage to leave the bank and the safety of a "normal" life, and at 40 years old she was on stage as Jezebel. She studied piano and classical canto and, during the 14 years since her debut, she approached a wide range of musical styles and genres, moving naturally and passionately from ethno to jazz, from chansonette to Argentine tango, from Cuban rhythms to traditional Spanish or Mexican music, from Romanian interbelic music to fado, from sacred chants to bell canto.
​
Her musical projects were hosted by both national and international concert halls and either alone or alongside well known musicians such as Ovidiu Lipan Țăndărică, Josef Kappl, Grigore Lese, Nicolae Voiculet, Marius Mihalache, Ionel Tudor, Gyuri Pascu, Tiberiu Soare, Puiu Pascu, Ciprian Parghel, Sorin Zlat, etc she performed in Austria, Germany, France, Turkey, Morocco and Canada.
​
Stepping on the path of spirituality, Jezebel, who is also an accredited yoga instructor, gained more awareness of realities beyond the confines of time and space. Her 2019's musical project entitled "Hierogamie-Incantatii" is an incursion into esoteric space, shamanism, a journey through religious currents and ancient cultures. An experimental performance about transcendence, sublimation, transmutation, which creates connections with a higher world through incantations, mantra, ritual dance all together bringing, beyond the artistic act, healing purifying vibrations.
​
"Music is the most beautiful, uplifting and powerful prayer to God" is the very core of Jezebel credo.
​
For full biography click HERE. For more information please visit the official website www.jezebel.ro
Links to Social Media:
Brief Introduction into Persian Sufi Music
"Hence philosophers have said
that we received these harmonies from the rotation of the celestial sphere,
This which people play on Tanbour and sing
is the sound of the whirling sphere;
The true believers say that music is a transforming force descended from Paradise,
a power that Beautifies sounds of unpleasant guise
We all have been parts of Adam;
we have heard those melodies in the Heavenly Realm" (Rumi)
Tanbour is an ancient instrument -the ancestor of most long-necked, plucked stringed instruments - that has assumed various shapes and sounds over the centuries. The simple sonority of this instrument, alternating between dry and soft, has something immaterial, abstract and even ascetic about it that makes it suitable for spiritual music. It has always been considered a sacred instrument used for accompany the Sufi sacred chants in devotional and liturgic ceremonies.
Its repertoire - maqams of Tanbour - is based on the ancient Persian music. These timeless melodies/scales are traced back to our primordial roots, to the ancestral memory of humanity. They are tale-tell signs of the ineffable mysterious quality of the spiritual states of our ancestors and convey the very essence of our true inmost nature. All the literature and poetic elements integrated in the Sufi music belong to prominent mystical poets, glowing with the enchantment of mystery and depth of meaning. The rhythmical patterns, harmony and beauty of these verses delight the ears and uplift the heart of each and every listener, beyond the borders of nationality, beyond culture or language.
​