First published as liner notes to Hossein Alizadeh and Rembrandt Trio’s album Same Self, Same Silence
(Just Listen Records, 2020).
These are sounds of the ancient and the modern.
Echoes of jazz solidify among the chromatics of the
dastgāh, adorned by ornaments both Persian and Baroque.
Musical instruments that were nearly lost to history resonate with those that are the first of their kind.
The art music of three continents swirl together as sweet-scented vapour and become one.
Hossein Alizadeh
Few musicians in contemporary Iran are as respected as Hossein Alizadeh. He is the leading master of Persian lutes: the
tar (the hourglass-shaped lute), the
setar (a long-necked lute with variants across Central Asia and the Middle East), and, as you can hear on
Same Self, Same Silence, the
shurangiz, an instrument built to his own specifications that serves as a midpoint between the two.
Born in Tehran in 1950 to mixed Persian-Azeri parentage, Alizadeh quickly became immersed in the tradition of
musiqi-e assil – the classical music of Iran that can be traced back many centuries. He became a professional musician aged just 15, and was soon noted for his powerful yet delicate performance style and his virtuosity in improvisation within the classical structures.
Aside from strict interpretations of classical and traditional music, Alizadeh has also been at the forefront of innovative music in Iran, and has expanded the possibilities of what is thinkable within the realms of Persian music. He has been particularly celebrated as a composer, with notable works including a concerto for
ney (end-blown reed flute) and string orchestra entitled
NayNava (1983) and scores for the films
Gabbeh (1996) and
Turtles Can Fly (2004).
Hossein Alizadeh is without a doubt one of the most important figures in the field of art music in Iran and beyond – as an educator, as a composer, as an exponent of old traditions and new talent and, foremost, as a true master in his performance of Persian classical music.
Rembrandt Trio
The Rembrandt Trio, from the Netherlands, are masters of their own classical traditions. At first glance, they appear to have the set-up of a standard jazz piano trio – piano, double bass and drums. But look closer. Rembrandt Frerichs’ piano is actually a fortepiano, built to the specifications of Mozart’s own instrument from 1790, or else an antique harmonium, bridging the gap between Europe and the Indian subcontinent. Tony Overwater’s double bass is a violone, a bass viol with six strings and frets. Vinsent Planjer’s drums are a whisper kit, a unique personal curation of drums and percussion from across time and geography.
Fine jazz players each, but together, their music represents a journey to a different sound. When they play together, influences abound and their historical instruments reflect an alternative vision of contemporary jazz. They edge towards the unattainable third stream, blurring European classical and jazz styles to render both nearly meaningless. J.S. Bach, Keith Jarrett, Claude Debussy, Ornette Coleman: these legacies are inextricable in the music of the Rembrandt Trio.
And their boundaries don’t stop at jazz or European art music. The strings of Frerichs’ fortepiano connect their player not only with 18th century Vienna, but also with the players of the Arabic
qanun (plucked zither) and the Persian and Hindustani
santur (hammered dulcimer). The music of the Middle East becomes integral to the trio’s sound, whether through the strains of an Arabic
maqam scale, a suggestion of an
iqa’ rhythm, or through direct work with celebrated Iranian artists such as Kayhan Kalhor, Mahsa Vahdat… and Hossain Alizadeh.
The music
Together, Hossein Alizadeh, Rembrandt Frerichs, Tony Overwater and Vinsent Planjer represent three art music traditions – Persian, European and jazz – and make from them a unified creation.
Same Self, Same Silence is an exploration of Nava, one of the seven principle dastgāhs – or modal systems – in Persian classical music. A dastgāh is defined by a particular set of notes, and so each has its own distinct emotional colour and personality. Nava is one of the oldest in the dastgāh system, known for its serenity and the meditative qualities it imbues. Yet, it remains among the least performed in the Persian repertoire.
Each piece here uses Nava as its base, anchoring the music solidly in the classical tradition. Most of the pieces are based on
gushehs, short canonical melodic fragments upon which ideas can take flight; others are specially composed by Alizadeh; and still others are solo improvisations on the dastgāh from Alizadeh and Frerichs.
The serenity embodied by Nava can also be heard in the performances themselves. Alizadeh and the Rembrandt Trio first met in 2016, and performed together for the first time that same year at the November Music festival in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. When recording this album, Alizadeh said “
I’ve known these guys for a year now and I already feel we have known each other for fifty years, because we have grown so close musically so fast.” This collaborative closeness gives the ensemble a relaxed enjoyment that can be heard clearly in the music, a feeling that only adds to the emotional depth on display.
To make
Same Self, Same Silence, each musician has adapted their playing to the others’. Musical minds are tuned to each other’s thinking, and musical instruments are re-tuned to ring in sympathy with another culture – Nava is a dastgāh that requires the use of quarter-tones not usually found in European music. This reorientation allows each musician to approach on an equal footing, to build new sonic possibilities. “
When we start to play,” says Alizadeh, “
we become like sculptors who create a shape on stage and, bit by bit, we carve out a sculpture.”
Where else could this music be heard than the here-and-now? The jangling buzz of the shurangiz complements the dampened tones of the fortepiano; rhythms from Iran played on a whisper kit are elaborated on the violone; improvisations glide seamlessly between Asia, Europe and America. Classical music cultures from the far past meet in the present.
These are the sounds of the modern and the ancient.
Photo: Tony Overwater, Rembrandt Frerichs, Hossein Alizadeh and Vinsent Planjer, by Floris Scheplitz.
