A Window Through the Labels: Mamak Khadem and "A Call to Beginning"

A reminder that Iran cannot be completely summed up, as we Americans like to do, in religious fanaticism, nuclear threat and silly labels like "Axis of Evil" comes in the form of today's random song. An ancient and very literate society in the cradle of civilization, Iran (and its predecessor Persia) has a tradition of music and poetry that predates the Roman Empire - prehistoric Persian king Jamshid is credited with the "invention" of music in Persia and Alexander the Great was said to have been impressed by the music he found in Persia upon his invasion. While little is known of what that music sounded like or how it was produced in Alexander's era, subsequent Persian eras indicate that lutes, harps, flutes and bagpipes, among other instruments, were used to create the distinctive Persian style. After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the traditional music that we associate with Persia and Iran became to take shape.

Today's song, A Call to Beginning, is performed by an ensemble including Iranian singer Mamak Khadem, percussionist Benjamin Wittman, bassist Larry Steen, santoor player Hamid Saeidi, orator Fereidoun Farahandouz, setar player Kourosh Taghavi and saxophonist Ole Mathisen. A Call to Beginning is on Khadem's 2011 album A Window to Color which is Khadem's exploration of the intersection of Eastern and Western traditions. The album is inspired by the poetry and paintings of Iranian artist Sohrab Sepehri. Khadem has been called "one of the wonders of world trance music" by the Los Angeles Times, and works from a base of Persian classical music and poetry to weave a sound steeped in ancient tradition but also completely new.