Iran's Afro-Irish Piper? ... No, it's Bushehri Music, Saeed Shanbezadeh Insists.

I bet you didn't know Iran has Pipers who do the African dance when they come together, in weddings, funerals and political protests. Saeed Shanbeh Zadeh is a musician and dancer from Iran's 'Nuclear" harbor, Bushehr. His kind of music is often referred to as "Bandari", but he insists on making distinction between Bandari and Boushehri music; as he considers the latter more diverse and also more "anthropologically" specific. This video is from his Brussel's performance, in solidarity with Iranians who have had about enough of "Molla-Ali" (Ali Khamenei, the soup-ream leader).

Shanbeh Zadeh lives and performs in Paris. He has performed in numerous international events and he is scheduled to perform in the company of the Irish Pipers in The 16th William Kennedi Piping Festival, 12-15 Novemmber, 2009 in the city of Armagh, Northern Irland.

"The Shanbehzadeh Ensemble offers a rare aspect of the traditional music and dance of the Persian Gulf, more specifically of the province of Boushehr, a little known region in the south of Iran. The main instruments they play include the Neyanbânn (Iranian bagpipes), the Neydjofti (a double flute), the Dammâm (two-sided drum), the Zarbetempo (percussion), the traditional flute, the Senj (a sort of cymbal) and the Boogh (a goat's horn).

Saeid Shanbehzadeh: Neyanbânn, Neydjofti, Dammâm - He started playing music at the age of seven in his native town of Boushehr in the south of Iran, with the old masters of the music of the region. He began with percussion, singing, then learning the Neyanbânn (pipes), Neydjofti (double flute) and traditional dance. At 20 he founded the group the Shanbehzadeh Ensemble and won the first prize at the “Fajr” Festival in Tehran in 1990. He also continues to do research and write articles on the music of Southern Iran, which are published in Iranian newspapers. In 1996 he was invited by the University of Toronto to teach for six months and he was named in 1998 the professeur and director of the House of Culture, Music and the Arts of the Isle of Kish in Iran. He has composed music for and acted in several Iranian films [working with notable directors like Bahram Baizai, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Makhmalbaf]. "

(source: WKPF website)

(Here's more on Saeid's peace-efforts, by Nima Tamaddon)