Samo

http://www.bactria.net/samo.html

Samo is a band from the Pamirs, the eastern region of Tajikistan. They were being recorded by some visiting Finnish sound technicians and needed an audience for the recording session at the Gurminj Museum, a Dushanbe museum of music and musical instruments. The setting added to the great music. The room was filled with traditional Tajik and Central Asian instruments, some of which were several hundred years old. One of the musicians explained that some of the string instruments were always crafted from Apricot or Mulberry wood. This was surprising, because there is so little forest cover here in the northeastern reaches of Persian cultural influence, and made me think about the similar importance of these two fruit-bearing trees back in Armenia, at the western end of Persian cultural influence.

Cultural note: The Pamir is a high plateau that makes up the entire eastern region of Tajikistan. It is mountainous, with the highest peaks exceeding 7000m (24,500ft). The plateau itself is about 12,000ft in elevation (3500m). It has been called a moonscape and is almost devoid of vegetation. It is a desert, and most water is from snowmelt, of which there is a constant supply from glaciers and snowfields. During the Soviet era, the region's economy was highly subsidized by Moscow, with products coming into the region via train to Dushanbe and Osh (in Kyrgystan), and from there by truck. The long border with Afghanistan gave the region strategic significance and therefore guaranteed its sponsorship.
After 1991, the civil war in Tajikistan pitted ethnic groups against one another, and the Pamiris were involved in the struggle for power, as well. Most Pamiris are Ismoili--a sect of Islam that broke off from the Shia branch in 765CE--while the overwhelming majority of Tajiks are Sunni. The Ismoili bid for power failed, there was ethnic cleansing in the capital, and until today the Pamir region receives little support from the central government.

The Ismoili spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, provides significant support to the Pamir region and people, and just last week opened an Ismoili cultural center in Dushanbe--a testament to the healing that has occurred since the civil war ended 12 years ago, or perhaps to the Aga Khan's influence in the country.

Samo's performance, therefore, was more than just a display of traditional Pamiri music, but was part of the reemergence of Pamiri culture in Dushanbe. They performed just two songs for the recording, but each was about 15 minutes long. One was very strings-heavy, the other was solely drums and voices. We were just six in the audience--the room was too small for more, but we six would suffice to make the band feel as though they were performing live, instead of for microphones alone. Oli, the sound tech, said the band had much more soul when we were there compared to when they had performed without an audience, so although we can't be heard on the recording, we are taking full credit for the extra 'oomph' factor.

Samo regularly tours Europe and has traveled to the States a few times, so you may be able to catch them in major metropolitan areas if there is a Persian/Central Asian/Traditional music festival near you. Check out the below link for more info and samples of their music!

http://www.bactria.net/samo.html