KAYHAN KALHOR · ERDAL ERZINCAN — Kula Kulluk Yakişir Mı (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

It has been nearly a decade since Kayhan Kalhor and Erdal Erzincan recorded The Wind for ECM. During that long interval, the pair have played together so often, they appear to have perfected a musical language that walks not only between various musical traditions but through them simultaneously, coming through the other side with something timeless. Kalhor is an Iranian master of the kamancheh (spike fiddle). He has a relentlessly mercurial musical mind. It's been displayed not only in his work as a solo artist, with the duo Ghazal, and the ensemble Dastan, but also in Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. Erzincan is regarded as the greatest living practitioner of the Anatolian baglama tradition (it is also called a saz, a long-necked lute type of instrument), and like his partner here, possesses a wildly adventurous spirit, not only in moving from Turkish folk and Western classical traditions with seamless ease, but also as an improviser. Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi was recorded live in 2011. Its title is taken from the folk song by the late prolific Turkish folk musician Muhlis Akarsu. It translates loosely as "How unseemly it is to follow anyone slavishly." Other than this duo's glorious version of that song and a thematic reprise of "The Wind," everything here is either built upon -- but never stays chained to -- traditional folk songs or consists of outright improvisations that come from nothing, engage both Persian and Turkish folk traditions, and emerge as a deeply emotional music that is unclassifiable. While everything here feels like it is of a piece -- the performance never seems to stop -- it doesn't necessarily sound like it. There are poignant silences within these arrangements, where the individual or paired instruments resonate as if to underscore meaning, either directly intended by a piece or intuited from it -- check the two-minute mark of the traditional "Alli Turnam," where the theme trails off, is followed by a naturally echoing space, and then turns back on itself to speak of the troublesome historical present even as it addresses a more innocent past. None of the five improvisations here reaches four minutes. The degree of intuitive interplay is so high, it is almost impossible not to regard these as formal works. They are informed by the traditional songs that precede them and foreshadow those that follow, as they shift and transform songs into sounds that are both beguilingly strange and ancient -- familiar in the body's cellular memory and in the heart's present moment. The final nine minutes, entitled "Intertwining Melodies," weave four traditional songs and become an extended improvisation upon them all, even as they are united in one flowing river of sound, history, and mystery. Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi is outstanding for its depth and truly masterful execution, but more than this, it is revelatory in the way it connects players to one another inside the music, and listeners to both musicians and sound, as it evokes emotions that are far beyond the reach of words. 
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Tracklist :
1.    Improvisation I    5:24
2.    Allı Turnam 5:42
 -Traditional
3.    Improvisation II    3:23
4.    Deli Derviş 4:10
 -Traditional
5.    Daldalan Barı 6:18
 -Traditional
6.    Improvisation III    2:59
7.    Kula Kulluk Yakışır Mı 8:57
Composed By – Muhlis Akarsu
8.    Improvisation IV    3:44
9.    Improvisation V    2:14
10.    The Wind 7:31
Composed By – Erdal Erzincan, Kayhan Kalhor
11.    Intertwining Melodies    9:13
11.1    Sivas Halayı
 -Traditional
11.2    Mevlam Birçok Dert Vermiş
 -Traditional
11.3    Erik Dalı Gevrektir
 -Traditional
11.4    Gol Nishan
 -Traditional
Credits :
Arranged By – Erdal Erzincan, Kayhan Kalhor
Baglama – Erdal Erzincan
Kemenche [Kamancheh] – Kayhan Kalhor

V.A. - The Rough Guide to the Music of Iran (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

It's virtually impossible to consider the state of contemporary Iranian music without taking into account the country's contentious political relationship with the rest of the world. As compiler Simon Broughton acknowledges at the outset of his liner notes, the images of Iran received on the outside, particularly in the West, tend to give an impression that this complex country is populated entirely by religious zealots who would suppress any creative expression. Compounding that false notion is that not much indigenous Iranian music has been allowed to escape, to be heard and appreciated in the West. Not surprisingly though, Iran, both in its cosmopolitan city of Tehran and throughout the rest of the country, hosts a diverse range of traditional and modern artists, as well as many who fuse the two into a new whole. As all of the other entries in the Rough Guide series so admirably do, this 15-track collection of album tracks and previously unreleased field recordings, ancient and modern sounds alike, serves as a fascinating introduction to the breadth of Iran's musical landscape. Never is that diversity clearer than in the transition from Chengis Mehdipour's "Misri Koroglu" to Barad's "Dar Har Rage Man (Within Each of My Veins)." The former is a mesmerizing traditional piece, featuring an instrument from the lute family called the korpuz. In a raga-like way, it lures and builds in intensity, before giving way to Barad's track, an all-out rocker that, while somewhat sloppier and less sophisticated than most contemporary rock coming out of Europe or America, could have found its way to American pop radio -- had its lyrics not been grafted from the work of Sufi poets. The set's opener, the Arian Band's "Afsoongar (Glamorous)," is another pop track, but admittedly the collection's highlights are, in the end, the acoustic, traditional numbers featuring local instrumentation: Kayhan Kalhor and his kamancheh (spiked fiddle) collaborating with tanbur player Ali Akbar Moradi; Hossein Alizadeh, and Armenian duduk master Djivan Gasparyan's live contribution; Jahlé's lulling "Lullaby." Fittingly, the renowned Masters of Persian Music close out this intriguing, educational, and, most importantly, delightful set with the uplifting "Torkaman," from their critically acclaimed 2003 album Faryad -- a prime example of Iranian music that has managed to find its way, successfully, to Western ears before. The CD also includes a data track featuring an interview with the compiler. by Jeff Tamarkin  
Tracklist:
1 – Arian Band - Afsoongar (Glamorous) 3:28
2 – The Kamkars - Dekay Ambar, Dekay Auber 4:12
3 – Hossein Alizadeh & Djivan Gasparyan - Sari Galin 7:40
4 – Trio Chemirani - Yädah 2:06
5 – Parvin Javdan - Daramad Homayoun 3:30
6 – Abdolnaghi Afsharnia - Dashti 2:04
7 – Dastan Ensemble & Shahram Nazeri - Saz Va Avaz 3:47
8 – Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Akbar Moradi - Showgh 5:55
9 – Jahlé - Lullaby 5:15
10 – Chengis Mehdipour - Misri Koroglu 4:18
11 – Barad - Dar Har Rage Man (Within Each Of My Veins)    3:18
12 – Haj Ghorban Soleimani - Zârenji Hossain Yâr 3:37
13 – Din Mohammad Zangeshâhi - Yâ Ghows    4:25
14 – O-Hum - Darde Eshgh 4:26
15 – Masters Of Persian Music - Torkaman 8:24