Ali Akbar Moradi & Pejman Hadadi
Kurdish music is as rich and diverse as the varied terrain of Kurdistan, which encompasses parts of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It is vital and intense, drawing on the ancient history and long cultural as well as sacred traditions of the region. Ali Akbar Moradi, the leading tanbur player from Kurdistan, Iran, has performed with such illustrious artists as Shahram Nazeri. Now on his second major tour of the US, he will be joined on daf (frame drum) and tombak by Pejman Hadadi, the "finest Iranian percussionist living in the West" (KPFA Radio, Berkeley).
Ali Akbar Moradi, an extraordinary tanbur player, is a leading composer, teacher and consummate performer of sacred Kurdish music. He has a unique style that sets him apart from other players of this ancient instrument. Moradi has won many awards including two honorary diplomas at major music festivals in Iran and has performed as a soloist and with ensembles in festivals throughout the world. It is a rare opportunity to listen to Moradi, this living legend of the sacred Kurdish lute.
Pejman Hadadi, a "virtuoso" daf and tombak player, has been called a "technical wizard" by LA Weekly. He has toured North America, Europe and Iran as a member of Dastan Ensemble, the leading ensemble of Persian music, and with the masters of Persian music, Hossein Alizadeh, Hossein Omoumi, Parisa and Shahram Nazeri and Ali Akbar Moradi. Hadadi currently resides in Southern California where he teaches daf and tombak.
The tanbur is the ancestor of most long-necked, plucked stringed instruments. It has 14 gut frets, and its soundboard, made of mulberry wood has numerous small holes for optimal resonance. It has a unique playing technique whereby the strings are strummed across the soundboard with all the fingers of the right hand to produce a very full and even tremolo called shorr (literally meaning the pouring of water) which creates the illusion of several instruments being played simultaneously. The tanbur has been considered a sacred instrument associated with the Kurdish Sufi music of Western Iran and its repertoire is believed to be based on ancient Persian music. Up until the last fifty years the tanbur was used only during djamm gatherings (devotional or liturgical ceremonies) of the Ahle-Haqq (the people of truth) Sufi order.