Saeid Shanbezadeh

This guy exudes passion, enthusiasm and human grace; Music runs through his veins and you can see that influence bud from his family (son and wife) who also play with him. Being Persian-American, I grew up listening to classic rock, hip hop, rap, reggae, alternative music but was never fond of Persian music. This night changed that because I gained a cultural understanding for the roots and essence of how the music came about. He plays a bag pipe instrument that I had no clue is a core instrument in almost all Persian music today except today it is mostly digitized/synthesized using devices. The passion with which he plays and dances simultaneously is thrilling. Caring souls cater to great music. Genuinely different experience.

Bottom line was that show was a benefit for Ba'hai, though this was revealed only in a roundabout way. Show started very late; in the interim, a long video about how no one should be persecuted for who they are or denied an education (I agree) was running on a continuous loop. Video showed murals painted in Harlem that were supposed to represent kinship between local residents and others who may have been historically denied opportunities. Inspecific messages included painter explaining that flowers in his mural portrayed a plant species that had been dissed as weeds and rejected by many, and no one, plants or people should be treated that way. Meanwhile, Ba'hai was behind it but was only touched on in passing, making you wish they'd just been upfront about this. After all that, the music itself was interesting--the man himself on traditional bagpipe (neyanban) and flute, his son on drums, his wife ululating--an Afro-Persian musical tradition that was new to me. They seemed very adept.