Understage

Mohammad Reza Mortazavi was born in Iran in 1978. He started learning tombak at the age of six, and by 9 he already mastered the instrument like few others. He won the annual Iranian tombak competition, where only the best performers are evaluated, when he was still a child. At the age of 20, he was already seen by many as one of the best tombak and daf (traditional Persian percussion instruments) players. He earned an infamous reputation among the more canonical Persian percussionists for coming up with more than 30 new techniques to play the region’s traditional instruments while selling out concert halls in Tehran. He became an outstanding figure in the “roots music” circuits, playing in the major festivals for more than two decades. He released the EP Yek with Burnt Friedman in 2017; another EP, this time playing solo, in the Portuguese label Padre Himalaya in 2018; and the LP Ritme Jaavdanegi in the French label Latency in 2019. The three releases proved to be crucial, because they introduced his rhythms to the universe of electronic, experimental and dance music avant-garde. Mohammad Reza Mortazavi is one of those rare musicians capable of bringing together the so often estranged concepts of avant-garde and tradition. With nothing but his hands, he produces what could only be expected from a small percussion ensemble, processed and polished by the most thorough sound engineer.