Iranian Percussion (ARC Music, 2009)
Take a deep breath because you’re going to need it before listening to Iranian Percussion by Ramin Rahimi. Dizzyingly dazzling and incandescently incendiary, Iranian Percussion is all percussion all the time. And it’s stunning. Released July 14th on the ARC Music label, Iranian Percussion dives headlong into the intricate rhythms of Iran and the Middle East with brilliant mastery.
Entwining the sounds of the tombak, daf, cajon, dhol, darbuka, djembe and a drum kit, Iranian Percussion is solely the work of percussionist and drummer Ramin Rahimi, also of the touring percussion group Tapesh and the metal/progressive band Angband. While not an easy listening CD you’d want to play at a party, Mr. Rahimi snatches the listener by the shirt collar and takes him for a wild ride through the complex rhythms of Persia and the Middle East.
From the opening track “Trio” through to the closing track “Listen Carefully!,” Mr. Rahimi wows with dance rhythms on “Sweet,” a surprising swing piece for tombak, daf and two drums on “Swing” and jazz and rock rhythms on “Belief.” “I Am the Tombak!” and “Only Us” are two staggering pieces, hung heavy with the Persian rhythms. Equally wonderful are the tracks “Presto” and “Technique.”
Thrilling and captivating, Iranian Percussion is a must for percussionists and drumming fans alike, but with this wild of ride you should remember to take a breath now and then.
Buy the recording:
- In North America: Iranian Percussion
- In Europe: Iranian Percussion
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
