Beats in the heart of Orient

Keyvan Chemirani has been an adept at creating dialogues between musical identities for most of his career. Born in Paris in 1968, Keyvan was bathed in Oriental and Mediterranean music throughout his adolescence (he grew up in Haute Provence town of Manosque, southeast France). His father Djamchid taught Keyvan much of the percussive traditions that he had himself learnt in Iran. The zarb’s repertoire has been metamorphosed by the desire to upgrade it into a solo lead instrument. At the beginning of the twentieth century the zarb player was a simple accompanying instrumentalist which the orchestra put nearest the door: last to enter the concert hall, first to leave it. It was the Persian zarb master Ostad Hossain Tehrani (1912-1974) who revolutionised his nation’s music by putting his instrument in the limelight. He passed on his art to his disciples, one of whom was Djamchid Chemirani.

Djamchid brought over his science to Europe in 1961. With his two sons, Keyvan and Bijan, he has taken his master’s desire to open up traditional Iranian percussions that much farther. At present, the zarb’s subtle yet all-enveloping sound takes centre stage with grace and authority. The right hand provides the lower-pitched notes from its centre (the tom) and the left hand draws out the sharper beats from the side (the bak). All ten fingers are called on in a blinding dance on the taut goat’s skin.

From the time Keyvan Chemirani began playing the Iranian zarb (or tombak) at the age of sixteen, the Indian tabla fascinated him. India, with its metric precision, the endless melodic variations it created and the multiplicity of timbres had always been a percussionist’s paradise.
He was fascinated by the remarkable clarity and mathematical precision of one of the world’s greatest percussionists.

Keyvan Chemirani
Keyvan starts learning Zarb at age 13 with his father, assimilating the traditional technique and knowledge rapidly. Until 1989, he studies and graduates in mathematics at the same time as he starts an international career as soloist and accompanist. He also plays the Udu, an earthenware jar used in the East and in Africa, as well as the Bendir and the Riqq, two mediteranean percussions. He performs numerous concerts with various traditional groups: Hassan Tabar ( persian music), The Mediteranean Ensemble directed by Pedro Aledo, The Ross Daly Ensemble (Greek music), The Eric Marchand Trio with Thierry Robin and also with Jazz bands, contemporary or improvised music : The Alazar Trio with Carlo Rizzo and Michel Montanaro, Jean marie Machado, The « Songs of the world » quartet with J. M. Padovani and the flamenco guitar player Juan Carmona.

Bijane Chemirani
Bijan learned the Zarb along with his father Djamchid and brother Keyvan. Surrounded by a sophisticated and refined musical atmosphere, he assimilates the traditional technique and know-how and gets the opportunity to meet the most amazing musicians in this world: encouraged by his brother Keyvan Chemirani to perform concerts and accompanying musicians such as Ross Daly, H. Agnel, H. Omouni etc., and singers such as Amina Alaoui, Houria Aichi for traditional musics. He also participates in jazz concerts with Chico Freeman, A. Mangelsdorff, Percussion Orchestra, J.M. Padovani… Meanwhile he learns the Iranian directory on the Kamantché with Cyrus Rangbar. In 1999, he composes the music of Pascal Vacelin's documentary “The power of the IMF� for ARTE as well as music’s for Theatre. At age 22, he signs with " L’empreinte digitale ", for his first album realized between Athens and Marseille with the complicity of Ross Daly Gulistan, imaginary garden of roses, with festive or meditative orientations from Oriental Mediterranea, Iran, Minor Asia, Black Sea.

Maryam Chemirani
Maryam Chemirani, young singer, was bathed in Oriental and Mediterranean music throughout his adolescence, in the family house, where many musicians came to play.
She worked the Radif with Hossein Oumoumi (Ney and Singing master). She worked the “modal� music in India and Bengladesh and mediaeval music with Henri Agnel, particularly the Santa Maria Cantigas’s repertory.

Prabhu Edouard
Prabhu Edouard is a tabla virtuoso of south-indian origin.
A worthy disciple of Maestro Shankar Gosh from Calcutta, ,Prabhu is accomplished both as a traditional musician and a versatile percussionist
His sensitive and dynamic tabla accompaniement has already supported indian legends like Hariprasad Chaurasia, Laxmi Shankar V.G.Jog, T.V.Gopalakrishnan,T.Vishwanathan…
His keen interest for crosscultural experiments has led him to encounter wizards like Maurice Béjart, Jordi Savall, Didier Malherbe, Marc Ducret, Saïd Shraïbi, Jamchid Chemirani…
This cosmopolitan musician based in Paris belongs to a new generation of indian artists who build bridges between east & west with a contemporary touch in world-music.

Steli