Night Silence Desert

Kayhan Kalhor is the world's leading exponent of the kamancheh, an upright spike fiddle. Renowned for his work with Ghazal, a group that bridges Indian and Persian music, he applies a similar approach to Iranian folk and classical forms on Night Silence Desert. The Radif (Persian classical repertoire) grew from folk forms, but over the centuries the music evolved from its simple rural origins into an elaborately ornamented and rigorously structured style. This album doesn't take the music back to its basics--there's too much refined virtuosity on display. But the musicians infuse their playing with a vigor and crisp cohesion that belies the record's fitful production. First Kalhor convened 11 strummers, drummers, and flute blowers in Tehran in 1994 to lay down the sweeping instrumental passages. Four years later he and vocalist Shajarian finished the record in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The two men exchange intricate call-and-response melodies that radiate impassioned exhilaration. --Bill Meyer