MOHAMMAD HEYDARIAN - Songs of Horaman LP

Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian is a young Kurdish tanbur player from Kermanshah, a city in the mountainous western Iranian region of Horaman. The son of a local instrument builder, he grew up surrounded by the local traditional music styles, studying with a number of well-known master musicians before recently entering university to study Persian classical music.

Recorded in the city of Karaj with the percussive assistance of long-time collaborator Behzad Varesteh, Heydarian's debut includes a mixture of traditional tasnifs and maqams—thrilling and gorgeous tanbur pieces centered in the two musicians' talent for extended improvisation and feeling.

Songs of Horaman was initially released on cassette by the European label Radio Khiyaban. It was immediately met with praise and positive energy, and it became clear that Heydarian’s music deserved to reach more ears. Plans to broadly distribute the album on the vinyl format came together quickly.

A special note of recognition and appreciation also goes out to musician and producer Valentin Portron, a friend of Heydarian who helped facilitate and coordinate this release - and who also mixed the results you hear on the album.