Eishan Ensemble: Hamed's Inspiration and Influences

Hamed Sadeghi is the director of the Eishan Ensemble and a Tar virtuoso who is inspired to share his knowledge of Persian Music through the ensemble's performances. Eishan features the addition of Western Guitar, Double Bass, Clarinet and Saxophone to a basis of traditional Persian music, with a secondary aim of "re-imagining Traditional inspired melody with Modern Jazz Harmonic Concepts, bringing a different life and different music to what has been previously conceived".

Here Hamed shares with Sydney Scoop a curated playlist of some of the music that has inspired and influenced him on his musical journey thus far.

Le Trio Joubran - "Masar"

I got the inspiration to write the piece “regret” from this track. Which is based on a very simple melody but amazingly beautiful. It reminds us again that beauty is in simplicity.

Le Trio Joubran - "Zawaj El Yamam"

I do admire what Joubran brothers are doing . Tempo, melody, harmony and vocal all have their own language but they blend in nicely.

Anouar Brahem - "The Astounding Eyes Of Rita"

Anouar Brahem is definitely one of the pioneers of fusing middle eastern music with jazz.

Keyhan Kalhour - "Ascending Bird"

This is a very good sample of playing around a fixed theme and let everyone in the group to improvise at the same time. Keyhan Kalhour is the master of improvisation and he gives enough space to musicians from different musical background to follow him in his music.

Herbie Hancock - "Watermelon Man"

As an eastern musician getting to know jazz music. I love exploring jazz pieces that follow standard composition rules.

Anouar Brahem - "Raf Raf"

A masterpiece from Anouar Brahem. Which can be played as solo and sound terrific and full of emotion.

Anouar Brahem - "Parfum de gitane"

I have played this piece on many instruments and different ensembles. And it still sounds beautiful and colourful.

Hossein Alizadeh - "Zarbi-e Eraq"

A piece based on improvisation on the tar from Hossein Alizaeh who inspired me a lot during my journey of learning Persian classical music.

Hossein Alizadeh - "In the Hand of Love"

Another free verse improvisataion from maestro Hossein Alizadeh. He introduces new techniques on the tar.

Hossein Alizadeh - "Ultimate moment"

A masterpiece from Hossein Alizadeh, who is an expert in combining vocal with polytonic traditional Persian music.

Anoushka Shankar - "In Jyoti’s name"

There are many similarities between Indian and Persian traditional music. Anoushka Shankar utalises contemporary techniques on traditional modes. And makes it fusion in a way that people from around the world would listen to her music.

Parviz Meshkatian - "A Piece for Santour and Orchestra"

A piece from maestro Parviz Meshkatian. This piece is composed with the purpose of forming an orchestra with traditional Persian influences.

Taksim Trio - "Derdin Ne"

A trio from Turkey playing folk song with a different interpretation.

Dhafer Youssef - "Les Ondes Orientales"

Dhafer Youssef’s music is simple but very meaningful.

Maous Shaari - "Journey"

Masoud Shaari is one of the first musicians who tried to experiment fusion music on setar, which is a very traditional instrument.

Hank Mobley - "Soul Station"

For sure listening to Hank Mobley made me use woodwind instruments in my compositions and use jazz elements.

The Secret Trio - "Woodstock"

When I listen to the Secret Trio I feel like I am listening to a very special music. I learnt a lot from their them. And made me not be afraid of experimenting with different things.

Naseer Shamma - "Le dernier depart d’Andalousie"

This piece from Naseer Shamma is based on a mode which is popular in Iran and many other Middle Eastern countries. Very inspiring.

Dave Holland - "Spirals"

I do not normally use sudden changes in my music but listening to Dave Holland’s music convinced me that sudden changes can be done nicely in instrumental music.

Hossein Alizadeh - "Shurangiz"

This is absolutely the music that makes me being proud of Persian classical music.

Eishan Ensemble have just released their debut album 'Nim Dong', a dreamy eastern and jazz fusion with layered soundscapes driven by tar, guitar, clarinet, double bass and more. Follow the links to find out more about Eishan and Hamed Sadeghi.