Avaz-e Asatir (The Kurdish Shahnameh) – Shahram Nazeri & Alireza Feyz Bashipour

Avaz-e Asatir (“Song of the Myths”), also known as The Kurdish Shahnameh and Sasanian Melodies, is an album sung by Shahram Nazeri, released in seven tracks by Avaz-e Bisotun in 2008. Its verses come from the Kurdish Shahnameh (the Kurdish tradition of the Persian Book of Kings) and from Kurdish poets such as Darvish Zolfaghar and Mawlawi Kurd.

The music was composed by Alireza Feyz Bashipour and Shahram Nazeri. Alireza Feyz Bashipour and Hafez Nazeri perform it on tanbur, daf (frame drum) and dohol (bass drum). The album joins the ancient maqams of the tanbur with old Iranian vocal styles – from Rostam, the hero of the Shahnameh, and Bijan in the well to the lament for Leyli and the cry of Majnun.

Label: Avaz-e Bisotun, 2008 (international release: The Orchard)