Shahriyar Jamshidi is a Kurdish-Canadian kamanche player, composer and improvisor who grew up in Iran, and lived through some very difficult times. He has collaborated with many musicians including heavy-metal cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne in their duo Kamancello, and has released numerous albums which feature his unique improvisational style. I find his playing to be extremely expressive and his personal story compelling. In this conversation he introduces us to this spiked-fiddle, which is the ancestor of the violin, and is used across many cultures, and also speaks about the need for humanity to stay in touch with our traditional music. Timestamps: (00:00) intro (01:20) description and history of the kamancheh (10:00) first improvisation (13:57) discussion of musical education (19:01) discussion of microtones and modes (24:03) demonstration of different techniques (28:42) discussion of the use of the kamanche and it’s relation to song (33:38) discussion about album “A Yellow Flower” (38:51) different Kurdish languages (41:59) growing up in Kermansheh, the political situation and ban on music (45:03) the importance of traditional music, more about the culture and censorship (52:42) immigration to Canada (54:54) Banff residency (57:15) International Society for Music Education conference in Azerbaijan (59:48) International Society for Improvised Music, different collaborations (1:03:23) second improvisation (1:05:41) how Shahriyar practices and the importance of traditional music (1:07:39) album “My Sunset Land Rojava” and the importance of music to express the most difficult emotions (1:17:21) process and inspiration for improvising (1:25:23) Kamancello duo with Raphael Weinroth-Browne (1:27:17) collaborations with different musicians, Richard Robeson “Meet Me in Tangier” (1:31:23) final improvisation --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/leah-roseman/message
