They met in Marseille in 2016 and a first album, Delâshena (MCE / Buda Musique), was born. Since then, Shadi Fathi and Bijan Chemirani have given concert after concert together throughout France and Europe. Their artistic complicity has led them to compose new pieces, always inspired by the richness and diversity of Iranian music and Persian poetry. Thus was born Âwât ("great desire" in Kurdish), an album that unfolds in sixteen tracks.
Shadi, a setar soloist trained in Tehran by the great master of Persian classical music Dariush Talaï, and Bijan, a virtuoso of the zarb, the daf and other percussion instruments, conceived the idea of combining bowed and plucked string instruments as well as percussion and wind instruments. As we progress through the tracks we hear the skills of Redi Hasa on cello, Shervin Mohajer on the Iranian kamantcheh (a bowed string instrument related to the hurdy-gurdy) and Sylvain Barou on flutes (doudouk, bansurî, and others). Five pieces featuring poetry by Khayyam, Mowlana Rûmi and contemporary Persian authors, recited by Shadi, punctuate the album in dreamlike and radiant style.
In the midst of the current dramatic situation, after two years during which culture has been silenced, Âwât resounds like a rich renaissance in which the power of the performance intertwines with the sweetness of the melodies.
SHADI FATHI: setar, shurangiz, daf, voice
BIJAN CHEMIRANI : zarb, daf, udu, saz
Guests:
REDI HASA: cello
SHERVIN MOHAJER: Iranian kamantcheh
SYLVAIN BAROU: flutes (bansuri, kaval), duduk, gaïda, uilleann-pipes
