From the old Nonesuch Explorer series comes this album of classical Persian music, originally released in 1974 and re-released on CD in 1991. The album contains a number of nice virtuoso performances on the various instruments of the Persian classical repertoire. The ensemble leader
Faramarz Payvar provides some outstanding work on the santur in most of the dastgah performances. Also, the zarb player Mohammad Esmai'li performs an amazing solo on his drum, nearly incorporating melody into the work with a single percussion instrument. The tar playing also stands out exceptionally in "Dastgah Chahargah," as
Houshang Zarif pumps out an outstanding run on his lute. For a basic overview of Persian classical, this album does a pretty good job of showing off the major instruments and vocals, all with the dastgah framework. At the same time, it's mildly simplistic, as are many of the Explorer series albums. For a newcomer to Persian music, this wouldn't be a bad place to start for a basic overview, though those better acquainted with the basics might prefer a slightly more comprehensive compilation, such as Rounder's Iran installment of the Anthology of World Music. ~ Adam Greenberg