Shahriyar Jamshidi: Kamancheh
Shahriyar Jamshidi is a Kurdish-Canadian kamancheh 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. The transcript is available on my website, linked in the description along with the link for both the video and the podcast. I’ve added timestamps the video has closed captions.
When I asked Shahriyar about his process of improvisation, he had this to say:
“Actually, it's hard to say that, but for myself you need, you need travel to where you love, like where you love. And for me, just, I am closing my eyes going to the, to my place, you know, you know, childhood time, the mountain, the place, I love it. And at this moment you try to just play music inside yourself”
