Littlefield, 635 Sackett Street
Join The Neighborhood for a concert celebrating the release of Galeet Dardashti’s latest album, Monajat.
Doors at 7pm, concert starts at 8pm.
Galeet Dardashti’s multi-sensory project and album, Monajat, is inspired by old and haunting recordings of Jewish prayers chanted by her late grandfather, Younes Dardashti, a famous master singer of Persian classical music in 1950s/60s Iran. Galeet reinvents the ancient ritual of Selihot—poetry sung nightly preceding the Jewish New Year as spiritual preparation—by singing with remixed samples of her grandfather’s legacy recordings. Riffing off these old tapes, Galeet composes a soundscape of original music performed by an acclaimed ensemble of Middle Eastern and jazz musicians. As she dialogues with her grandfather in song, the live performance immerses audiences in Persian melodies, heavy grooves, sacred Hebrew and Persian poetry, and dynamic video art. Performing with Galeet will be Shanir Blumenkranz, Philip Mayer, Max Zbiral-Teller, and Dafer Tawil.
As vocalist, composer and anthropologist Galeet Dardashti has earned a reputation as a trail-blazing performer, educator, and advocate for Middle Eastern and North African Jewish culture. Dardashti is the first woman to continue her family’s tradition of distinguished Persian and Jewish musicianship. Galeet’s grandfather, Younes Dardashti, was one of the most highly acclaimed singers of Persian classical music in Iran and her father, Farid Dardashti, is an accomplished cantor in the US. Galeet Dardashti is widely known as leader/founder of the renowned all-woman powerhouse Sephardi/Mizrahi Jewish ensemble Divahn, which released its newest album, Shalhevet, in 2020. Time Out New York described Dardashti’s first solo album—her multi-disciplinary commission, The Naming—as “urgent, heartfelt and hypnotic;” The Huffington Post called it “heart-stopping.” Dardashti recently completed an Artist-in-Virtual-Residence at Indiana University, and recorded Monajat supported by IU and the MFJC. Dardashti also has years of experience as cantor; this year she’ll be leading High Holidays with Kanisse in Manhattan—one of the first egalitarian Sephardi/Mizrahi communities in the country. As a scholar, Dardashti examines Mizrahi music/media/cultural politics; she is currently Visiting Professor at NYU and will be a Fellow at University of Pennsylvania this coming year. As artist, scholar, and cantor deeply steeped in this music, Dardashti is uniquely poised to share her boundary-breaking piece, Monajat.
Promotional partners:
Let My People Sing
ASF Institute of Jewish Experience
Lab/Shul
Kane Street Synagogue
Congregation Beth Elohim
Park Slope Jewish Center
Kanisse
Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network
Kolot Chayeinu
East Midwood Jewish Center
Romemu Brooklyn
Flatbush Jewish Center
Be’chol Lashon
