| Format: | LP |
| Availability: | Out of stock |
500 copy vinyl pressing.
Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian was born on the first of January, 2002 in Kermanshah, a city in western Iran. Kermanshah is the home of the tanbur, a pear shaped lute whose origins can be traced in the region for more than 5000 years. The Yarsans, a millennium sect of Kurdish people, have long made this region of the country their home. Their mystic rituals (jâm) are performed with tanbur, and the sacred music they play is a heritage that is steeped in one thousand years of tradition. Mostafa's father, Morteza, was a percussion player whose main musical instrument was the dâf, a frame drum. At the age of twenty, Morteza started learning tanbur crafting, and it is in these overlapping worlds of tradition, family, faith, and culture that Mostafa is born.
There are pictures of Mostafa holding a tanbur before he can even walk. At around seven years old Mostafa began to learn Yarsan's maqams (modes/scales). Also around this time the family moved to Karaj, a city located one hour west of Tehran, a move that provided more opportunities to meet musicians that regularly drop by Morteza's tanbur studio. It is here that Mostafa takes lessons from a number of master teachers (Ostads) and absorbs the sounds of the tanbur on the many cassettes in his father’s cupboard. Everyday after school he rushes to his father's workshop and allows himself to drop the tanbur only for dinner. His mind is obsessed with playing and listening. In his dreams he sees the late tanbur master Seyyed Amrollâh giving him advice. His path is clearly on the tanbur side.
When Mostafa was a teenager he met Valentin Portron, a traveling French musician, who, upon watching videos of the famed tanbur master Seyyed Khâlil Alinejad, had travelled to Karaj to acquire and learn tanbur. Alinejad just happens to be one of Mostafa's favorite tanbur players, and thanks to their mutual knowledge of English and common love for sacred music, a new brothership is born. In early 2020, Valentin asked Mostafa to record some tanbur for his rock band, Portron Portron Lopez. Mostafa rushes to a small studio in Karaj and improvises three tracks. A new idea comes to his mind, and with the help of Behzâd Varâshte, a dâf player living in front of Morteza's studio, they record three more tracks. The result being Mostafa’s first album, Songs of Horaman.
Mostafa was excited, but he also shared his concerns about releasing an album at the young age of 18. “I'm not a master!” he argued. After some reassurance, the album was shared on Bandcamp in 2021. Almost immediately, Mostafa and Valentin were contacted by NR Safi from Radio Khiyaban, and soon thereafter the album was made available via a partnership between Radio Khiyaban,Cardinal Fuzz (UK) Centripetal Force (USA), and Ramble Records (AUS). Songs of Horaman was released on cassette and vinyl in 2022 and received wide acclaim from the likes of Gonzo Magazine, the BBC, Mojo, WFMU, and the French television program On connait la musique.
The origins of this new album from Mostafa date back to 2021, when Valentin and Mostafa booked the famous Bell Studio in Tehran, Iran’s oldest recording studio and one of the most respected studios in all of Asia. It was here that Mostafa started developing new ideas and a new dream. His main goal was to be more precise and intentional with his playing. He wanted to tighten his compositions while still including some unexpected moves. Every year Mostafa’s father gifts his son a newly crafted tanbur, each new instrument even more spectacular than the previous. As Mostafa rehearsed for a second recording session on his newly born tanbur, appropriately named Mostafa, a beautiful suite of songs started to take form.
In March of 2023, the month of the Persian new year, Mostafa and Valentin returned to Bell Studio, this time with dohool (cylinder drum) player Morteza Rezâei. In only two days, Mostafa recorded the rest of his dream in one take, communicating what was in his heart through his instrument. The name of the album, Noor-e Vojood, the light of existence, holds deep meaning for Mostafa. His love for life, music, and creativity has led to his songs being heard around the world. He considers his music a light for others and an offering from himself. He knows that in these times of trouble and turmoil, his musical contributions can help ease tensions and anxiety. The tanbur delivers love and understanding to the people who hear him, an experience as intimate as a face-to-face encounter. Nothing seems impossible to Mostafa, knowing his music touches people's hearts and spreads unconditional love. Noor-e Vojood is simply the next chapter in what is shaping up to be quite an extensive body of work.
Mostafa currently attends Tehran University and studies Persian classical music. His focus is on studying râdif, melodies that have been handed down by the masters to the students through the generations, for both setâr and târ (both are stringed lute instruments) with the best teachers in the country.
