Originally from Tehran and now based in Toronto, vocalist Neda Mohammadpour approaches Iranian folk/traditional music as living stories that continue to travel with the people who carry them. If folk music tells the stories of people’s lives, what is the story of our everyday life today from a distant homeland like Iran to a new home in a city like Toronto? What happens to these songs when they move across borders, languages, and cultures? How do they change, and what new meanings do they gather along the way?
This band is an attempt to explore these.
This performance explores Persian folk songs from across Iran and reimagines them through improvisation and collective musical exploration. Folk music in Iran has always been closely tied to everyday life. These songs carry the voices of different regions, stories of love, longing, migration, celebration, and the deep relationship people have with their land.
Neda Mohammadpour (vocals), Chris Pruden (piano), Caleb Klager (bass), and Mack Longpre (drums), bring together Persian folk sensibilities with the openness of jazz, improvisation, and experimental music.
Sounds Like Toronto – Sounds Like the World is generously supported by the City of Toronto through the Community Celebration Support Fund.
