On Saturday, July 6, three artists from seemingly disparate musical traditions came together at Rodey Theater to perform a set of first-rate world music.
Titled “Stars of the East and West,” the performance featured artists from Iran and Colombia. Though the genres swung wildly from Iranian music to Guarijas to bluegrass, the night flowed as a cohesive whole, showcasing each genre authentically.
One of the artists, Farzad Khozein, is a commercially successful and critically acclaimed violinist/composer. Born in Tehran, Iran, Farzad has performed with the Dallas Opera, the Fort Worth Symphony and the Houston Ballet Pop and Opera Orchestras. His albums enjoy top 100 status.
The concert began with Farzad playing some original compositions backed by Heliotrope, a world-funk band from California, and KC Porter on keyboards. His full-bodied tone can only be compared to the timbre of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a singer of Persian mystic music called Qawwali.
Farzad’s sense of phrase was exquisitely in line with the Romantic aesthetic — it grew to a breathtaking forte at the top of his range and descended into eloquent murmurs toward the end of his phrases. Through a virtuoso, Farzad stuck to simple lines of melody, as opposed to degenerating into the trap of playing fast, nonmusical passages that permeate the repertoire of so many virtuosos.
Heliotrope did a beautiful job, sensitively creating a rhythmically active backdrop for Farzad’s lento melodies. The wildcard, unfortunately, was KC Porter. His synthesized parts seemed trite in composition and execution. He played parts that seemed to be more suited to a Yanni record than as support for a performer as seasoned as Farzad.
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KC Porter is a three-time Grammy-award winning producer who headlined the show. Known for bringing traditional Latin and Latin-pop to American markets, Porter has produced albums for Selena, Ricky Martin, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Santana. He has recently put his work with Santana on hold to tour with both Farzad and Dely.
Leonor Dely is an accomplished singer-songwriter from Colombia who performed after Farzad with her family of musicians, Millero Congo.
“She’s a mix between Cesaria Evora and The Buena Vista Social Club with incredible spiritual depth,” Porter said.
Dely’s compositions incorporated traditional Latin rhythms. Before each piece was performed, the lyrics were read by Dely’s husband in English. She took much liberty with the words she used, repeating phrases and using some lines out of order to create the standard form markers of choruses and verses.
Dely’s alto tone was simple. She used little vibrato and kept her vocal dynamics in check. This allowed her stellar back-up band, now consisting of both Heliotrope and Millero Congo, to supply the driving dynamic intensity. After their respective sets, everyone gathered to perform a fantastic collaboration using the Guarija rhythm. With Leonor Dely’s disarming vocals, Farzad and Naseem’s soaring violins, KC Porter on a “piano effect” — that thankfully distracted little from the composition of the piece — and both Heliotrope and Millero Congo taking a bit of time to show off their more virtuostic chops, the finale was breathtaking.
For more information on Farzad, go to www.farzadmusic.com.
