SO FAR, SO CLOSE...
Photo credit: Lumiere Studio
Nowadays, the fusion of various musical genres merging into one embrace it is increasing and spreading more widely. Still, we cannot truly call all these blends a heart to heart conversation with the great mystery or a real union of souls, since they rather appear as collaborations or musical question and answer debates.
This fluid conversation between Calin’s guitar and my Tanbourr plunges you in the ceaseless flow of timeless ancestral wisdom which is being called fourth to fuse with modern rhythms and dynamics. My ancient tunes emerging from the heart of the Orient tell Calin countless stories, while my millennial Tanbour learns about change and renewal from the youthful guitar.
Calin’s guitar conveys not only the vibrant energy of these last centuries, but it also bears the vast heritage of the Eastern European tradition. Together with my elder Tanbour, it chants the deep lament of this turbulent world.
So here we are, coming together, in this time and age, in order to delve right into the essence of oneness at our roots, and tap into the wellspring of the primordial wisdom uniting our hearts, thus remembering our true identity and origins.
CALIN GRIGORIU
Musician, classical and electric guitarist, arranger & composer, he studied guitar at the National University of Music Bucharest in the class of Master Ion Mihaiescu - a professor who shaped him musically, helped him expended his musical universe by intensive chamber music classes and gave him the meaning and understanding of the instrument, without which (according to his own opinion) it would have been impossible to approach a diversity of musical genres. In 2008 he finished his studies with a Master Degree in Chamber Music.
In 2001 he had the chance to be part of Catalina Buzoianu's project, Odyssey 2001, and from there the world of theater opened up to him. He has a career full of interesting collaborations with Horatiu Malaele in "Leonce and Lena", Gelu Colceag in "A dream in the middle of summer", Teodora Herghelegiu in a musical based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and as well as other independent artists and theatres.
In 2008 he joined the Mozart Rocks project, an extraordinary opportunity to perfect his orchestral writing techniques, where he was not only the soloist in a large number of concerts both in the country and abroad, but he also wrote the orchestral arrangements. A similar collaboration, that confirms his authentic professionalism born out of passion, was the one with the renown guitar player Steve Vai and the Evolution Tempo Orchestra with whom he toured worldwide in 2013.
In addition to personal projects, such as "Calin Grigoriu Electric Trio" - dedicated to the art of electric guitar and improvisation, "Autumn Baroque Trio" (with Cezar Cazanoi - flute and Calina Epuran - cello) - a tribute to baroque art through the spirit of chamber music, Duo Paracelsus (with Andrei Kivu - cello) - a real tour de force through musical eras, from Vivaldi to Debussy, from Bach to Enescu, he has a rich list of collaborations, arrangements and composition of theater music, recording and performing sessions with pop, rock and jazz artists, the most important being the one with Teodora Enache with whom he has been playing and recording for several years, their collaboration being essential for the crystallization of her musical ideas.
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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
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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.