Monajat

Galeet Dardashti is the US-based granddaughter of Younes Dardashti, a pre-revolutionary master singer of Persian classical music, who performed at the Shah’s palace, at every Iranian concert hall and in weekly radio performances. In line with his father and grandfather’s tradition, he also led prayers as a cantor for the Jewish community.

An original recording by him of ‘Selihot’ (Jewish penitential poems and prayers) ended with a poem named ‘Monajat’, a Persian word for ‘intimate dialogue with the Divine,’ chanted in Persian, hence the title of the album, which is just as much a tribute to Younes Dardashti as a showcase for Galeet Dardashti’s own artistry; it duly pays tribute to both Jewish and Muslim Persian culture.

In the songs she sings like ‘Adon Haselichot (Master of Pardons)’ and ‘El Nora Halila (God of Awe)’ Galeet Dardashti practices the typically Persian tahrir (yodelling), in which her grandfather excelled.

In tracks where she adds her voice and instrumental arrangements to recordings of her grandfather, things get even more intense. As on ‘Melekh (King)’ and ‘Adonai Hu Ha’elohim (God is It)’, where she doesn’t mind putting a heavy contemporary rhythm section alongside her grandfather’s voice.

On the final track ‘Im Afes (In Early Morning Tehran)’ we hear Younes’ voice over that of a muezzin’s call for prayer, a reminder of how things once were, carrying an implicit message that Galeet says she wants to translate to modern times.