The Shanbehzadeh Ensemble ( fa, گروه شنبه زاده) is an
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
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*** Folk metal
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Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
band, formed in
Bushehr
Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antioc ...
in 1990. The band offers a rare aspect of the traditional music and dance of the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
, more specially of the
province of Bushehr, south of Iran and bordering Persian gulf.
The principal instruments of the ensemble are the (
bagpipe), (
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
), (
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
), (
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
), traditional flute, (
cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
) and (a goat’s horn). The ensemble has performed in front of audiences in Iran, Europe and North America.
History
The band was founded by internationally acclaimed Iranian musician and dancer, Saeed Shanbezadeh in 1990. Saied, who traces his ancestry to
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
, was born in
Bushehr, Iran, where he started playing music at the age of 7 with the old masters of the music of the region. He began with
percussions
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
, singing, and traditional dance. At 20 he founded the group of Shanbehzadeh Ensemble and won the 1st prize at the
Fajr Music Festival
Fajr International Music Festival ( fa, جشنوارهٔ موسیقی فجر) is Iran's most prestigious Music Festival founded in 1986. The festival is affiliated with UNESCO and includes national and international competition sections.
Since i ...
in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
in 1990. In 1996 he was invited by
the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
to teach a half-a-year course. In 2007 he was invited again by
La Cité de La Musique of Paris to teach dance, singing and music. In 1998 he was named the professor and director of the House of Culture, Music and Dance of the
Isle of Kish
Kish ( fa, کیش ) is a resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgān Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, s ...
in Iran. That same year he portrayed himself in ''Dialogue with the Wind'' by
Bahram Beyzaei
Bahrām Beyzāêi (also spelt Beizāi, Beyzāêi, fa, بهرام بیضائی; born 26 December 1938) is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, and '' ostād'' ("master") of Persian letters, arts and Iranian studies ...
.
Saeed Shanbehzadeh left Iran in 2002 and now lives in Paris.
Band members
Current members
* Saeid Shanbehzadeh – neyanbān, neydjofti, dammām
* Naghib Shanbehzadeh -
tombak
The ''tombak'' (Persian: تمبک), ''tonbak'' (تنبک), or ''zarb'' (ضَرب) is an Iranian goblet drum. It is considered the principal percussion instrument of Persian music. The tombak is normally positioned diagonally across the torso w ...
, zarbetempo
Saeid Shanbehzadeh : Composer
Saeed Shanbezadeh began playing music at the age of seven in his native town of Boushehr in southern Iran with old music masters from the area and according to the local oral traditions. He first learned percussion and singing, then Neyanban (bagpipe), Neyjofti (double flute) and traditional dances.
At the age of twenty he created his own traditional music group, the Zâr Ensemble (before called Shanbezadeh's Ensemble) which won the first prize at the Fajr Festival in Tehran in 1990. At the same time he also began to conduct research and write about southern Iranian music in Iranian periodicals. His research on the
ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
of the region led him to collect many different types of local music and create sound archives for this music. As a result of his research and his concerts he is now a nationally and internationally known musician.
In 1996 he was invited to spend a semester at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
. In 1998 he was named professor and director at the House of Culture and Music of the island of Kish (Iran). In 2001 the French Montalvo/Hervieu Company invited him to participate in creating and touring with the "Babelle Heureuse" show, which was performed more than two hundred times in France, Europe and Brazil.
He also composed film scores and acted for a variety of film directors, such as
Mohssen Makhmalbaf for the film "Dar" ("The Door"),
Bahram Bayzai
Bahrām Beyzāêi (also spelt Beizāi, Beyzāêi, fa, بهرام بیضائی; born 26 December 1938) is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, and '' ostād'' ("master") of Persian letters, arts and Iranian studies ...
for "Gouf te gou ba bad" ("Speak with the Wind") and
Rakhshan Banietemad for "Baran va boumi" ("Baran and the Citizen").
'Naghib Shanbehzadeh : Tombak, Zarbetempo
Young skilled percussionist, Naghib began playing music in Boushehr and Kish with his father at the age of three. He learnt traditional percussions from the south of Iran (Dammâm, Doholgap, Pipè, Kesser, Tempo) and classical ones (Zarb). From the age of 10, he played concerts with famous musicians such as Billy Cobham, Manu Codja and Matthieu Donarier.
Now he studies occidental percussions at the « Conservatoire de Créteil ».
Collaborators
Matthieu Donarier: Saxophones (soprano, tenor)
He shares his time between various groups : Daniel Humair's "Baby Boom," Gabor Gado Quartet, Le sacre du Tympan, Caratini Jazz Ensemble, Stephan Oliva quintet, etc.
Manu Codjia: Electric guitar
Musical partner of Erick Truffaz, he has also played with Daniel Humair's "Baby Boom," Henri Texier, Aldo Romano, Moniomania and has participated in a dozen of other musical projects.
Joe Quitzke: Drums
Joe is Swedish and grew up in Andalusia. He traveled extensively before settling in France. For the last three years, he's been associated with all of Francois Jeanneau's projects (trio, quartet, orchestra). He is a member of the Gabor Gado Quartet.
See also
*
Persian traditional music
Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran (also known as ''Persia''). It consists of characteristics developed through the coun ...
*
Music of Iran
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanbehzadeh Ensemble
Iranian musical groups
Musical groups established in 1990
Folk music groups
Iranian people of Tanzanian descent