Iranian Geniality – one reason I stay in Iran

They ask me why do you stay in Iran.

This is one reason: chance to do extraordinary things, like witness a renowned  musician’s jamming session in Mashhad, northeast Iran.

And at the end of the session, around midnight, he feeds me too!

The musician 

Tonight I saw passion, talent and humility.

Ali Pourataei, professionally known as Bidel,  plays the centuries-old folklore music of Khorasan province on his setar all over the world.

He just got back from performing at the Rumi Festival in Konya, Turkey – home to the famous Whirling Dervishes.

Which is fitting because the man is humble as a dervish. He receives fans at the studio in this rental home. We’d been the third visiting party that day dropping by.

“I didn’t go after the money. It came by itself,” he said. 

Bidel inherited the art of folklore music from his late father, also a renowned performer. 

He plays all types of music with musical instruments he has brought from all over the world. 

Instruments of Persian / Iranian classical music

Some of the other instruments are specific to the Khorasan province, in northeast Iran.

“A piano or guitar is the same in America and in Europe and in Africa,” explained my friend Ehsan. “But the instant you play these instruments, the trained ear knows it’s the sound of Khorasan. Even the wood the instrument is made with could sound different because it’s from local trees. 

Musical performance was banned in Iran

What’s happening here is night and day compared with with just a couple of decades ago. Performance of or even listening to music used to be banned in post-Revolutionary Iran, until the laws were relaxed in the 1990’s. 

“Just carrying a musical instrument had the same punishment as carrying an unlicensed gun,” Bidel said. 

Buy Bidel’s music: https://music.apple.com/ro/artist/ali-pourataei/1627335709