Chahâr

Meaning ‘four’ in Persian, Chahâr unsurprisingly follows Meelodi’s third album – The Great Blue Wheel – which drew in musicians from an impressively wide catchment and to great success. This album is no less diverse, bringing together (among others) a Norwegian Hardanger fiddler, Syrian and Iranian singers, West African desert blues, a bansuri and a viola da gamba. Perhaps the biggest difference with Chahâr is in its development: whereas The Wheel began with vocalist Medi Farmani’s interpretations of Persian poetry, this album started the other way around; with jam sessions involving all the musicians from the beginning and the original poetry of the vocalists and their friends being added on top.

The result is a more live-sounding record and one that does even more to blur the regional associations we usually make with particular instruments. Gamba and Hardanger fiddle, for example, have similar tonalities and it is not always immediately clear to which one is listening. The microtonalities of the Hardanger fiddle that open ‘Tow Tow’ are echoed by the Syrian/Iranian vocals that follow. And again, these traits are shared by the bansuri – an Indian flute very similar to the Middle-Eastern ney. Chahâr is an ingenious conglomeration of musicians and truly magical sound.