Zafar Askari

Zafar Askari is a maqam master (maqam: a traditional melodic piece of the tanbur), kalam singer (kalam: the sacred hymns of the Yarsan) and teacher of tanbur maqams in Qasr-e Shirin. He led the kalam singing of the Qasr-e Shirin jamkhaneh (the Yarsan ritual gathering house) in March and May 2018, and the maqam Khas-e Bazhneh with him as lead singer was also shared by the channel.

Askari leads the tanbur ensemble Qoqnus (“Phoenix”), which played at Tutshami at Nowruz 2018. In July 2018 a class in the original tanbur maqams was held under his guidance in Qasr-e Shirin, and in the same month he also began tanbur classes for Yarsan women and men in Sarpol-e Zahab.

Between 2016 and 2018 the channel “Navaye Tanbur” published many of his performances, among them the maqams Bayanu Yari, Delfan, Ali Ali, Yaran Jam Nian, the Sheikh Amiri prelude, Sheikh Amiri Guran (“Ey dust ni dam da”), Taleh-savaran, Taneh-miri, Seyed Khamushi, Shah Khoshini, Tarz-e Yari, Davu neh Kuyreh, Hejrani and Hey dust Qarachupi, as well as a sama‘i piece.

Source: Telegram channel “Navaye Tanbur”, December 2016 to September 2018 (captions of performances and photos; the Nowruz 2018 report quoting the channel Yarestan).