Music

I was sixteen years old when I held a kamancheh in my hands for the first time. It feels cliche writing this, but it quite literally changed my life. In a couple of months time I knew that my future was forever intertwined with this instrument and the journeys it would take me on. From that day onward every chapter of my life has been an unraveling of the layers of meaning and emotive expression that manifest where I and this instrument intersect.

Whether it is ethnography, musical collaboration, pedagogy or my creative practice, the kamancheh has been a tool that opens doors and creates endless possibilities for me. At times sweeping me across various geographies and at other times expanding my mind.

Below are links to my improvisatory designs and explorations, my collaborations, and my ongoing approaches to teaching the kamancheh.

Lamentations (ft. Witness Matlou) (live improvised set)

2019 live improvisation in Paine Hall, Harvard University with South African jazz pianist Witness Matlou.

Pishdaramad Abu Ata, By Ostad Ali Asghar Bahari

Kamancheh: Payam Yousefi

Kamancheh and Santur Improvisation in Dashti

Kamancheh: Payam Yousefi Santur: Shahab Nattagh Private Performance On the third day after the passing of Iran's most eminent vocalist, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, I was in the city of Mashhad paying my respects. That night playing became the only way to cope with this momentous loss. The result of that coping was a night of spontaneous improvisation with some friends. Here is a short clip from our long night of sharing music, space, and emotion.

Kamancheh Performance in Avaz-e Dashti Mode

Kamancheh: Payam Yousefi When the COVID-19 outbreak reached its first peak last March I was in the city of Rasht in Northern Iran. Stay at home orders began, as did the advising of limiting travel between cities. I stayed in Rasht for over a month in isolation, playing music through the heavy atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, and loss that had seemed to encompass everything. During my last days in Rasht I decided to make this recording to take a musical snapshot of what I felt during that time and how it manifested into music.

Variations on Pish Zanguleh Gusheh

Kamancheh: Payam Yousefi
Live in concert performance in dastgah Chahargah. Variations on pish zanguleh gusheh.