I almost didn't hear about this concert in time to share, but Iranian vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian, one of the greatest living practitioners of Persian classical music, is making a rare local appearance Saturday night at 8 PM at the Northeastern Illinois University auditorium, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr (click here for more info). He's a dynamic virtuoso who sings with a powerful emotional bravura, embroidering austere instrumental backdrops with his elaborate melodies. He's been performing since 1959 possesses an redoubtable knowledge of Persian musical traditions.

A few years ago the World Village label gave a belated stateside release to Shajarian's 1984 masterpiece Bidad, which sets poetry by the Iranian icon Hafez to compositions by Parviz Meshkatian. Persian music has many modes, called dastgahs, which instruct the performer how to modulate and alter the melodic pattern before looping back to its original form. Music governed by dastgahs is essentially monophonic--there don't tend to be chords or harmonies--but on Bidad the players improvise brilliant lattices of contrapuntal lines, fill in spaces with delicate curlicues and trills, and take round-robin solos. Shajarian's tonal elasticity, his seemingly effortless improvisational fluidity, and his gift for lyrical invention turned him into a star in his homeland (he also got a little boost from the emphasis on homegrown traditions after Iran's Islamic revolution).

He sang at Symphony Center back in 2005 as part of the Masters of Persian Music, and considering the increasingly frosty relations between the U.S. and Iran it's a pleasant surprise to see him back in Chicago. Still, I wouldn't pass this opportunity up lightly--there's no guarantee our next administration will adopt a homeland-security policy that's any more sensible about foreign artists and musicians.

Today's playlist:

Richard Crandell, Spring Steel (Tzadik)
Harry Whitaker, Thoughts (Past and Present) (Smalls)
Dolly Parton, Backwoods Barbie (Dolly)
Various Artists, Woof 7 Inches (Ad Hoc)
Cedric Im Brooks & the Light of Saba, Cedric Im Brooks & the Light of Saba (Honest Jons)