Ariana Vafadari – Anahita (Quart de Lune, 2020)
Anahita is the musical creation that came out of the friendship and artistic collaboration of two French-Iranian women, Ariana Vafadari, who composed the music, and Leili Anvar that imagined the story and wrote the lyrics. Although Ariana Vafadari is a well known mezzo-soprano classical opera singer, she also composes, records and performs other musical forms, including Persian classical music and world music.
Anahita celebrates femininity and is inspired by the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra (founder of Zoroastrianism) and the Persian goddess of water, fertility and wisdom. Anvar brought these ancients traditions to modern times. The album illustrates the story of a young woman in Iran who lives in an area affected by drought. She has a dream where she meets the goddess and initiates a voyage to seek the water source. The story connects with the current situation across the globe where millions are affected by the over-exploitation of natural resources.
Anahita is a fantastic world music album that showcases the beautiful and masterful vocals of Ariana Vafadari intertwined with finely-crafted music rooted in Persian music, western classical and jazz modes.
The lineup on Anahita includes Ariana Vafadari on vocals and excellent musicians from France, North Africa and the Middle East: Julien Carton on piano; Driss El Maloumi on ud; Leila Soldevila and Nicolas Deutsch on double bass; and Habib Meftah Boushehri on calabash, bendir, and daf.
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.