Afghan Music in Exile was released in 2023; however, as Michel Gasco mentioned, it’s the perfect gateway for new audiences into Afghanistan’s rich musical history. The album also highlights the ongoing plight of Afghan musicians – for these reasons, we wanted to review and highlight this release.
Without wishing to appear overly philosophical, it is easy, from a Western European perspective, to lose sight of the many freedoms we take for granted, particularly the freedom of expression across the creative spectrum. Such rights are by no means universal.
One place where creating art of any kind would invite arrest, assault, imprisonment, torture, or even death is Afghanistan. Since the return to power of the Taliban in August 2021, not only has there been a ban on musical performances, but there has also been a widespread crackdown against the arts in general, rendering many artists and their families destitute and starving. Many others have sought refuge in exile, with Iran often being seen as the safe haven of choice. However, news this week of jailed Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi being sentenced to death illustrates the ambiguity of the term ‘safe’.
Afghan Music In Exile: Mashhad 2022 is both an album of music and a film series highlighting the music of a culture at significant risk. The project has been produced and managed by Michel Gasco, a Spanish documentary filmmaker, musician and composer, and is the culmination of his decade-long research on the Afghan community in Iran. Co-production credits go to Lachlan R. Dale, owner and manager of Worlds Within Worlds Records, a Sydney record company whose mission is “…to promote Eastern classical music, with a particular focus on instrumental music from India, Iran and Afghanistan.”
The seven tracks on Afghan Music In Exile, which was recorded in Mashhad, Iran, in May 2022, feature performances from some of the most important musical dynasties of the past century from Herat, the Province which borders Iran and whose capital, Herat City, is the third largest in Afghanistan. Members of the renowned Delahang, Hassanpour and Khushnawaz families, living in exile, make contributions which cover a range of styles, both classical and from the folk tradition, and bring to the rest of the world music which would otherwise be stifled by the ban in place in their home country. One of the contributing musicians, Nasim Khushnawaz, has an optimistic outlook, “I think this project will give the opportunity to those who don’t know about our music to hear it for the first time. When people think of Afghanistan, they think of war, I hope after this album they will also think about our beautiful music. I also hope this project will give us the opportunity to play for people who appreciate our music and our Afghan brothers living in the west.”
A striking folk song, Astan e To Boose Gahe Man Ast, released as the first single with an official video (see below), introduces the album. The song, written by one of the leading singers in Afghanistan over the last quarter of the 20th century, the late Ustad Amir Mohammad, is performed here by his son Aziz Ahmad Amiri. The latter’s vocals and harmonium are accompanied by Gholam Sakhi Rasuli on the Herati dotar, a traditional Iranian long-necked two-string lute (do tar is Persian for two strings), although the Afghan Herati dotar version, as played here, has 14 strings, some of which are sympathetic. Two members of the Delahang family, Vahid, rubab, and Kenan, tabla, complete the quartet, with their contributions adding to a track which, over its seven minutes, makes what for many will be a fascinating introduction to a previously unheard genre of music.
The Delahang pair also feature on the shortest album cut, Rag Sohni, an instrumental composition from Vahid on which his talent playing the traditional rubab, the lute-like ‘lion of instruments’ and national instrument of Afghanistan, is clearly evident as it fizzes along, showcasing his ultra-fast, percussive playing. The son of the great singer Jalil Ahmad Delahang, Vahid is the first rubab player in his family, whilst his cousin Kenan (or Kanaan), currently the youngest professional musician in the Delahang family, learnt the tabla from his father and is a much sought-after musician.
In contrast, the next track, Tarane, from Jawed Tabesh, is the longest in the collection, just shy of twelve minutes. A professional singer since the beginning of the century and resident in Mashad since just before the Taliban took over Herat, Jawad’s vocal interpretation of this classical Afghan piece features audacious dexterity and speed of vocalisations that barely seem possible. Here, he is accompanied by the youngest performer on the album, Ramin Ahmadi, himself born in Mashhad into a family of emigrants from Herat, an accomplished tabla player who, coincidentally, also plays in the band Badieh alongside Michel Gasco and Nasim Khushnawaz on rubab.
Born into one of the most important contemporary Afghan musical families in Herat, Nasim Khushnawaz, the son of master rubab musician Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz, has lived in Mashhad since 1996 when his family were forced to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban’s outlawing of music, and, since the death of his father, is the foremost player of the instrument in the city. With Leili Leili, he makes his second appearance on the compilation, accompanied by Gholam Sakhi Rasuli, once again on Herati dotar, (or dutar), and the tabla of Azim Hassanpur. This traditional instrumental piece distils perfectly the essence of the wonderful sound that can be achieved when the three instruments are in the hands of such capable exponents.
Nasim’s third and final offering is on another traditional instrumental composition, Aghrabe Zolfe Kajat, which again features Azim Hassanpur on tabla. A member of the third important family of Herati musicians and the first to move to Mashhad, Azim has accompanied masters such as Ustad Sarahang and Ustad Amir Mohammad, together with undertaking international tours with Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz. The virtuosity and beauty of Nasim’s rubab playing here is quite breathtaking, whilst the complexity of Azim’s tabla rhythms complement and enhance the overall sound.
Since 2001, Asef Habibi has been one of the leading singers and teachers in Herat, although he too left in November 2022. His contribution to this collection again sees Vahid Delahang and Ramin Ahmadi providing rubab and tabla, respectively. This track, Feraq, is a prime example of Kabuli ghazal. A major structure in Persian and Pashto poetry and of vital importance in Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Urdu literature, ghazal’s precise definition means to “talk to the beloved ones”. It expresses the pain and loss of separation together with the beauty of love despite that pain. Ghazal singing, well-established in Hindustani music, has been adapted in the Kabuli version. Whilst related, in that both forms are based on ragas and talas, Kabuli ghazal predominantly uses Persian texts. It is marked by cyclical rhythmic patterns involving both parallel and serial polyrhythms and cadences, and there is no question that Feraq provides a supreme fusion of voice and instruments.
All too soon, we reach the final track and the return of Gholam Sakhi Rasuli, this time as lead performer, for his interpretation of the traditional Herati dotar composition Chaharbeiti Siahmu Wa Jalali / Abshari Herati, with tabla once more provided by Azim Hassanpur. The opening sequence has an Andalusian feel, with the dotar initially sounding much like a Spanish guitar. As the tune develops, however, the sympathetic strings on the instrument are very much in evidence, and the tabla provides effective cross-rhythms, creating a rich, beguiling soundscape.
The inherent musicality of Afghan Music In Exile: Mashhad 2022 make it, in Michel Gasco’s words, “a perfect gateway for new audiences into the rich musical history of Afghanistan”. The album is also an essential conduit for ensuring that the voices of the artists involved are heard and not forgotten.
In the words of Gasco, “This album is one of a kind, and a celebration of a great culture that has been under unbearable pressure with extremists trying to silence it…”.
All profits from this release go directly back to the artists involved.
Afghan Music In Exile: Mashhad 2022 was released via Worlds Within Worlds (June 23, 2023).
Order via Bandcamp: https://michelgasco.bandcamp.com/album/afghan-music-in-exile-mashhad-2022