Jamshied Sharifi - One
We all face this awkward period in our teens when we are trying to decide what we like, and find ourselves adopting things that we know little about. Sometimes we judge an album by its cover and discover that a band with a cool name and art are actually pretty awful. Also sometimes we find song we love but end up hating everything else from the artist. In my case I figured that I was into world music because I loved the various international artists I had listened to. Turns out that the more mournful stuff like Dead Can Dance has a minor in world music and a major in ambient goth. Also it turned out that stuff I thought was cool like Kardeş Türküler, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Silvio Rodriguez where more folk than world. I learned all this the hard way of course, by wasting money on tapes from stores that sold new age paraphernalia and faux ethnic crafts. After listening to enough awkward white guys shaking traditional instruments they bought from catalogues while butchering native chants I decided to forget about the scene and listen to more metal. Hell, bands like Amorphis,
Still I keep my ears open to the world music scene; both because some amazing folk artists (Lila Downs) are promoted in this circle but also because some part of me loves to hear a marriage between musical traditions that are alien to each other. Then about a month ago I heard some tracks by Jamshied Sharifi on NPR and they pretty much blew my mind. I did some research on this Iranian-American composer and found out that not only has he scored a bunch of children’s movies but also was the conductor for a Dream Theater orchestral performance. Moments later I was downloading the album on Amazon’s cheap and DRM-free music store.
The musical styles on the album break with the convention of featuring different regions of the world on each song and instead creates multicultural arrangements by mixing contributions by some of the worlds best singers from Morocco, Tibet, India, Iran, Mali and the United States. Layered under the complex medley of vocals are some deep rumbling percussions, versatile clarinet and string arrangements and frequent passages of plucking instruments such as the oud (Middle East), koto (
At the best of times the music is complicated, feverish, sensual and jazzy. Sometimes it does feel a little bit too Hollywood or New Age but I don’t think I can credibly argue the fact that I’m put off by things that sound spiritually uplifting without sounding like the worlds biggest stick in the mud. My favorite tracks are Setaa (sexy and fast) and Di’vane (great chanting and jazzy solos) but songs such as One, The Ship Sails, Darfur Is Burning, Ghanima and As Mosst, Keh Bar Mosst are all excellent as well. On the other hand tracks like Charlotte Sky and My Grandfather, The Tree venture dangerously close into the territory of relaxation tapes and Irish Spring commercials. And as a final track comes the September 11th inspired Requiem, an exercise in contemplation which will probably blast up the charts of tasteful songs to play in funeral parlors. While it’s far from being the best album I’ve heard this year I think it will make world music fans very happy while throwing a bone to New Age fans. People who prefer pop beats and being able to understand all the lyrics should sit this one out, although I doubt most will never hear about the album in the first place.