David Dalle
Thursday October 5th, 2023 with David Dalle
Guest Galeet Dardashti joins me to speak about her new album "Monajat" which explores her Persian-Jewish background.

Singer and musicologist Galeet Dardashti is a Persian Jew and heir to a very rich musical heritage. Her grandfather was the Persian classical singer Younes Dardashti. Younes Dardashti belonged to an ancient Jewish population which dates back 2700 years. He was born in 1909 and first learned to sing by imitating his father. Tragically he lost both his mother and father at an early age. His talent and beautiful voice was recognized early. In the 1920's he studied Persian classical Radif with Mousa Nay-Davoud and was also appointed cantor at his synagogue. He continued his musical career and his popularity peaked during the 1960's while he was very involved with Radio Iran. In the late 60's he emigrated to Israel but continued to return to Iran to perform until the revolution in 1979. He died in 1994. In this new album, Galeet Dardashti communes with her grandfather with half the songs featuring samples of Younes singing. This is a gorgeous album exploring little-known Jewish music and history.