Traces of an Old Vineyard (Kirkelig Kulturverksted/Valley Media, 2015)
I confess an affinity to hear real female vocals, not those digitally enhanced vocals that always evoke images of animated Disney mice singing. Nor am I particularly impressed by those female singers who show off like hyped up birds or the ones so intent impressing listeners with their range that they chasing lyrics like running a flag up and down a pole during a wind storm. I want to hear a woman’s voice drenched in sorrow or love or utter anguish because they are most interesting vocals. Those cutesy, breathy girly vocals always strike me as someone trying put one over on me. So, it can come as no surprise that I am enamored with Iranian singers like Mamak Khadem, Parissa, who I just happened to live years ago at Fez’s Festival of World Music and Mahsa Vahdat who appeared on the 2004 recording of Lullabies from the Axis of Evil.
As luck would have it Ms. Vahdat has a new recording called Traces of an Old Vineyard on the Kirkelig Kulturverksted label. With recordings like Twinklings of Hope, I Am Eve and Songs from a Persian Garden with Marjan Vahdat and the 2010 Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations with Mighty Sam McClain, Ms. Vahdat is back with 12 new tracks on Traces of an Old Vineyard in dedication to the city of Shiraz. Writing the melodies, Ms. Vahdat lays down the lyrics of Iranian poets Khayyam, Hafez and Rumi with her lovely voice. Backed by pianist and keyboardist Tord Gustavsen, kamancheh player Shervin Mohajer and percussionist Ali Rahimi, Traces of an Old Vineyard strikes an intimate tone in its simplicity, but loses none of the sheer loveliness with help of sound engineer Martin Abrahamsen and producer Erik Hillestad, in keeping with the excellent recording quality of Kirkelig Kulturverksted standards.
Poignant and powerfully vocals serve as the center from opening track “Vanishing Lines” based on a poem by Hafez through to the jazz tinged “My Ruthless Companion” and “Wind in Tresses.” Mastery comes through the carefully threaded piano and kamancheh lines edged with percussion against the bare and beautiful vocals of Ms. Vahdat. The vocals are without artifice and dazzle with their depth of emotion. “Pledge with the Jar,” “Morning Sun of Hope,” “Once Again Beside Myself” and “The Flower’s Garment” are as equally as dazzling. Expressive and cleanly spare, Traces of an Old Vineyard allows the listener to relish changes in tone and nuance in piano, kamancheh, percussion and voice.
Traces of an Old Vineyard is all about a poignant intimacy in that connection between poetry, voice and music and the result is stunning.
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.
