Acclaimed composer Houshang Kamkar, 72, leader of Kamkars, the renowned Kurdish music band, will release his latest album after the fasting month of Ramadan (starts May 17).
The album is going to be unveiled at Arasbaran Cultural Center in Tehran. Titled “Hich dar Hich” (zilch in zilch), it is a combination of traditional and modern musical styles based on verses written by modern and avant-garde Persian poet Bijan Jalali (1927-2000), ILNA reported on its Persian website.
“In Hich dar Hich, I’ve tried to compose the melodies that are in harmony with the forms and concepts of Jalali’s poems,” Kamkar said.
Some believe post-modernist Persian poetry starts with Jalali in the 1960s. Jalali rejects the prosodic rules of the new poetry and helps bring down the dominance of form. In his works, the boundaries between prose and poetry becomes less transparent.
Composer, vocalist, violinist and oud player Arsalan Kamkar and vocalist Saba Kamkar sing the vocal tracks of the album. Arsalan is Houshang’s brother and Saba is his daughter.
“The melodies and harmony of the album incorporates modern elements; while our national identity is evident in most of the sung verses. The vocal parts are performed as duet and polyphonic,” Houshang Kamkar said. “Jalali’s poems are imbued with a modern mysticism. I wanted to combine traditional and modern elements together, in the same manner that I combined Jalali’s verses with those of (13th century Persian poet) Rumi. This innovation may be censured by traditionalists,” he added.
