Fared Shafinury

Since the turn of the 19th century, intellectual movements in Iranian art have involved an experience with modernism, which most scholars would argue began in the European Renaissance and therefore is uniquely a Western philosophical phenomenon. This East-to-West
relationship with modernism has left many of these Iranian artistic intellectual movements in a state of emulating the Western experience. Historical figures such as Mohammad Ali Furughi, Sadegh Hedayat, Nima Yushij, Bozorg Alavi, and Hassan Taghizadeh lead these movements in various art forms of society; some succeeded in establishing new genres, while others found themselves in a cycle of Western thematic replication. The Iranian experience and development of modernity led to a unique style of music, painting, and cinema. A critical import from modernity to Iranian art-culture is one of modernity’s main pillars: self criticism. To take the entire structure of one’s tradition under scrutiny allows for revolution to take place, in turn creating new genres and styles. Essentially a revolution is taking place right before our eyes today, creating possibly for the first time ever a new genre in Persian classical music. In Iran, artists have begun to openly question the restrictions and constraints of their musical tradition (Radiff). This culture of self criticism has lead to the creation of new forms and genres in Western art, and now a handful of artists in Tehran are rupturing in the same process of self reflection.

In the year 1127, the artist Abbot Suger began reconstructing his Abbey Basilica of St. Denis in Paris. Suger’s architectural ideas resulted in something never seen before, a “new look” neither classically Greek nor Roman or Romanesque. Eventually Suger’s pioneer work led to an influential architectural style known as “gothic.” Not knowing what to call Suger’s work at the time, the society relied on a Latin name, “opus modernum.” Today in the 21st century, in the context of Iranian society, Masoud Shaari’s interpretation of the ancient Persian Radiff allows for an “opus modernum” manifestation to occur in Persian classical music. His ground breaking work, In the Shade of the Wind, intertwines the ancient with the modern age, marrying instruments such as the setar to the electric guitar, the ney to the saxophone. Each of the four tracks in this album are journeys to distant lands, where one can imagine Persian merchants offering the world their melodies and rhythms in exchange for nothing else but a sense of mutual understanding.

Shaari has unlocked the dusty box of the Radiff, letting ancient Iranian melodies play catch with the world. In 1978, the band Ancient Future was the first ever to coin the term “world fusion music,” defining their new style. Shaari’s album In the Shade of the Wind can fall under this category of music as well, where many cultures and sub-cultural musical styles are audibly interacting: classical North Hindustani rhythms and ragas are incorporated, 1950’s American pop-rock comes in and out of improvisatory segments, American Blue-Grass Country guitar is surprising to hear at times, jazz chord progressions harmonize in the background of a massive setar chorus, and psychedelic trance movements create an atmosphere close to that of the Sufi “Sama” ecstasy. Many of the trance-like sections in Shaari’s music is seriously influenced by the repetitiveness of Indian music and rock music. Through this conglomeration of musical styles and the process of fusion, Shaari unknowingly creates a new musical language – a global one! This new musical language is purposely, however, deeply rooted in a Persian accent. The Radiff still holds centerfold piece amidst the chaos of this fusion, exhibiting to the Western world an “untouched”, and “pure” melodic sentimentality of ancient tradition. To Iranians, Masoud Shaari re-energizes the setar, revamping a tradition to adapt and still remain capable and applicable in the 21st century. The new generation of post-modern intellectuals is a movement towards globalization, and in Iran we are beginning to see this global influence in their music.

It must also be mentioned that other artists in Tehran are exhibiting the same ideological tendencies that Shaari has manifested in his music, although stylistically completely different. Other artists, namely Mohsen Namjoo, have remained loyal to the emotional spirit inside the Radiff, while creatively being able to uplift their Iranian musical heritage with a whole new approach to creating melodies, an approach which shatters away arbitrary borders and boundaries. In the case of In the Shade of the Wind, Shaari bears the weight of his artistic creation on developing the mastery of the Iranian Setar. For example, in track one, Hamsaz, one can not only hear but feel the many different new techniques Shaari has incorporated in his style of playing. Besides technique, his melody in dastgah-e Nava still abides by bare structural laws of the Radiff, but the actual melody is something unheard of. This compromise between abiding by the structure of the Radiff but not the Radiff melodies set’s Shaari completely free in the creating process of melody, and distinguishes his musicianship from other fusion artists.

Nevertheless, this compromise isn’t always enough to keep the traditionalist music critics at ease. The heated tug-a-war debate between traditionalists and non-traditionalists in Persian classical music has created a frenzy of opinions. Traditionalists frown upon the concept of exploratory music, because they fear that the essence of the Radiff will become lost in the scientific laboratory of fusion based music. On the other side of the spectrum the non-traditionalists believe that, according to Masoud Shaari himself, “It is our duty to show to the world what we have been cherishing for so long, not to hide our musical heritage, especially in a world that is becoming increasingly smaller day by day.” When I asked why this is our duty, the answer was clear as sunshine, “…because assimilation brings understanding and comprehension.” Masoud Shaari believes his music doesn’t see boundaries. In fact it can be said that his music purposely breaks them.

In the Shade of the Wind employs jump-cut sectionalization, combining characteristics from different genres in musical form. At times it tends to be self reflective and ironic, blurring boundaries between many styles and “high brow” art. As a musical condition, Shaari’s approach with regard to foreign musical identities doesn’t only bring about change in the Radiff, rather the actual merging forces change to occur inside all foreign elements in his music. After speaking with the guitarist, Arash Mitooei, it became clear that the guitar had to adapt just as much as the setar had to.