Baz Amadam: Parisa at Royal Festival Hall

Parisa

Persian Music at Its Most Persuasive

The "songs" of much Iranian classical music aren't fixed arrangements of words and melodies and rhythms, as in the West. Rather, the repertoire of a singer like the stunningly inventive Parisa is made up of modal entities called gushe. Each of these has a distinct tonal center but not a fixed theme; the melodic and rhythmic formulas serve as the starting point for improvisation.

So when Parisa begins "Chant Accompanied by Quanoon" in this concert recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall, she must summon the mind-set of a jazz musician. She knows the outline of the tune, and has some idea of the path she'll travel. But she doesn't know each stop along the way, and neither do her accompanists, who are, for the most part, hand drummers.

United in pursuit of the mystical ecstatic state known to Sufis as hal, Parisa's fellow musicians begin "Chant" with simple pattering rhythms that chatter and laugh, emulating a lively discussion between women. Parisa enters after a few minutes, and immediately the contentiousness of the instruments transforms into a purposeful, journeying stride. Her vocals are a mix of rapid glottal shakes and yodeling swoops, and they're positively galvanizing: Before long the quanoon, a dulcimer-like stringed instrument, is running alongside her, mimicking her spry phrases underscoring the hope in her voice as she repeats the chant of "zood" ("soon" in Farsi). These exchanges may not be the dictionary definition of ecstatic trance, but beware: They have the power to lift you a few inches off the ground.

Remarkably, so do the instrumental pieces—alone, without the dazzle of Parisa's improvisations, the focus shifts to the whipsaw interplay of the drummers. Which is plenty engrossing by itself.

Genre: World, Iran
Released: 1995, PlayaSound
Key Tracks: "Chant Accompanied by Quanoon," "Reng shahr ashub."
Next Stop: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: In Concert in Paris
After That: DJ Cheb I Sabbah: Shri Durga
Book Page: 577