A toast to the Persian new year

Given that the Iranian Nowruz (New Year's) festival lands precisely on the spring equinox, a time of rebirth and renewal, it's appropriate that expat Iranian flamenco guitarist Shahab Tolouie is hosting a Persian New Year's celebration this weekend in Prague.

Although Persia is not generally known for flamenco, two figurines (dated 2000-2500 B.C.) housed in the National Museum of Iran, bearing what are regarded as the oldest archeological remains of any guitar-like instruments, suggest a long history of varied music there. Nearly 5,000 years later, when Tolouie's 2001 book You Can Play Guitar Too hit the shelves of Tehran music stores, it marked a full circle for both the instrument and Tolouie's journey to his preferred instrument's European home, in the Spanish province of Andalusia.

When Tolouie first arrived in Seville to begin his flamenco studies, he found Persian influences had preceded him by several centuries. To his ears, there were clear distinctions between the Sephardic, Moorish, Arabic, Iberian and Persian threads in flamenco, and the way the Spanish locals played the music.

"Until I went to Spain, I was a very conservative flamenco player," Tolouie says. "But there, I realized that I hear music differently than they do in Spain. I have their technique, but I still can't play the same as them without simply copying them."

A decisive moment for Tolouie came when his guitar teacher stopped him midlesson one day to question his out-of-the-box embellishments. As Tolouie recalls, "I was playing, and when I'd add something with an Eastern feeling, he would say, 'Wait a minute, what was that?' "

Flamenco has long been known for its open embrace of worldwide influences, particularly from the Caribbean and South America. So, with his teacher's encouragement, Tolouie began emphasizing the Central Asian potentials he could hear in the music.

Arriving in Prague in 2003 with impressive flamenco guitar skills and an expertise in a variety of Persian instruments, Tolouie was soon in demand as a teacher, accompanist and performer. Later, via his friendship with the late singer/producer Zuzana Navarová, he found his way onto the regional festival circuit.

In 2009, a year after forming his first ensemble in the Czech Republic, Tolouie released his debut CD, Tango Perso, on the Czech Atlas Music label. Musically, it was hard to classify. "What I play is not flamenco music anymore, and it's not Persian music anymore," he acknowledges. "It's just my own creation, where you will find the roots of flamenco and Persian music. I'm not trying to damage either, but keep them parallel."

Hearing Tolouie talk about his new work and the quartet he will be debuting this weekend, it's clear the Central European musical landscape has also added new layers to his multicultural sound. "Up until this year, we were more ethnic," he says. "Now, we've added more dynamics. Instead of the electric bass, we have Martin Kapusník on contrabass, adding a definite jazz feeling to the music. Tomáš Reíndl used to play tarbuk and tabla with me, but now he is using an extended ethno-jazz percussion rack including hi-hat, bongos, tablas, two large frame drums and chimes. As well, I've added Tomáš Vychytil on second guitar, giving me more freedom both on the guitar and the [Persian] setar."

Along with this powerful lineup, Tolouie's Persian New Year celebration will include David Koller from the popular Czech rock band Lucie and jazz bass dynamo Pavel Ryba. And Tolouie's longtime collaborator, percussionist Hearn Gadbois, will bring his impressive background in Central-Asian music studies and New York City session work, which includes playing with Patty Smith and Yoko Ono.

As Chinese expat and singer Feng-yün Song has demonstrated with her annual Chinese New Year's celebration, which has grown into a multiday festival that includes puppet theater and specialty food, there's a taste for the exotic in Prague. Tolouie's Persian event may test the limits of that appetite. But, when the occasion is a celebration of good music led by masterful hosts, the only question that comes to mind is, "Why not?"

Darrell Jónsson can be reached at
features@praguepost.com