Photo courtesy of Moody and Amiri.
Moody/Amiri, a duo appearing in the Cap Roots Series at North Vancouver’s Presentation House Theatre on Oct. 17, bring together an unusual combination of instruments: the santur and the viola.
The santur, played by Iranian-born Amir Amiri, is a 72 string dulcimer used in Persian classical music played with a variety of lightweight hammers. It has a clear, brittle, ringing sound. His partner, Richard Moody of Winnipeg, plays the viola, the darker-toned and larger member of the violin family featured in string quartets and the symphonic repertoire.
Together, Moody/Amiri have developed a style that draws on both Western and Iranian classical music, but which has been influenced by jazz, Indian and modern spiritual idioms. It sounds traditional, but also highly innovative, familiar yet strangely new.
Painting from the Hasht Behesht Palace, Isfahan, Iran, 1669.
Musical roots
Amiri received his early musical training in Tehran, where he attended some of the best music schools and studied with the foremost teachers of Persian music. Arriving in Canada exposed Amiri to the strong rhythmical sense in jazz and especially Afro-Cuban percussion. Another extremely formative experience was at the Banff School of the Fine Arts, an institution which has hosted many up-and-coming Canadian musicians, where he worked with Victoria native and internationally acclaimed jazz trombonist Hugh Fraser.
Moody comes from a well-known Winnipeg musical family – his younger sister is Ruth Moody, a member of the Juno-award winning group The Wailin’ Jennys. He began playing with Amiri in 2011 but it took the two musicians nearly two years of intense collaboration to evolve their style and learn each other’s approach and tendencies. Moody has adapted his viola playing, which now sounds as if it is an instrument from another part of the world, but still recognizably a viola.
Musical inspiration
The group draws its inspiration from a wide range of sources. For example, Amiri notes the influence of the tangos of the Argentine master and popularizer of the form, Astor Piazolla.
“Do you know how many versions there are available of the tango I’m interested in? Over 150. That’s amazing. But, unfortunately, many of them are not so good. Too dry. Music has to have some passion and depth to be interesting, don’t you think?” says Amiri.
The process
The intense commitment of the two players to their art is shown by their experience in the recording studio. They have just released their new CD, Safar, and their appearance in B.C. is part of a release tour.
Amiri says it was recorded in the heat of the summer and that there were moments when they were completely covered in sweat. But the final product also involved the rejection of much of what they had recorded, leaving only the work that met their exacting standards.
“Have you ever cooked lentils, yellow lentils? You get a foam at the top which you don’t want. That has to be disposed of. It’s the same with music,” Amiri says.
Moody/Amiri will be performing at Presentation House in North Vancouver on Oct. 17.
