Siavash Ghomayshi

Siavash Ghomayshi entered the world in 1945 in Ahvaz, Iran. At eleven he left his birthplace to study music at the Royal Society of Arts in London, where jazz became his principal focus. There he served as pianist and singer with several British ensembles, among them Rebels and Insects. Upon his return to Iran at twenty-five he initially devoted himself to composition, supplying material for artists including Zia, Betty, and Ebi. During the final phase of the Pahlavi regime, before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he issued his first album and thereafter worked simultaneously as singer, composer, arranger, and lyricist. At fourteen he had already written his earliest song, “Boatman,” for Zia. In 1972 the album Farangis appeared in Iran. He remained in the country until age thirty-four, when the uncertain prospects for musicians after the Islamic Revolution led him to emigrate once more, this time settling in the United States. During twenty-five years in Los Angeles he composed and recorded every track on eleven solo albums. The 2007 release Sunset to Sunshine contains remixes of selected earlier works. In more recent years Ghomayshi has also investigated electronic music, introducing fresh textures without erasing the hallmarks of his personal style. Among the fourteen albums he has completed to date, the most widely received have been 2005’s Roozhaye BeeKhatereh (Days of No Memory), 2003’s Bee Sarzamin Tar az Baad (Landless Like the Wind), 1995’s Ghesseye Gol va Tagarg (The Story of Flower and the Hailstorm), and 1993’s Taak (The Vine). Although the records themselves remain largely free of political content, they repeatedly convey a longing for the homeland he first left as a child. Ghomayshi participated extensively in recordings by fellow Iranian musicians, most notably Ebi’s Stars and Night of Morning Glory, both of which drew widespread attention. His voice lacks conventional power, yet its warmth creates an intimate connection, and his songs favor the directness of Persian-language pop/rock over the phrasing typical of adult-contemporary singers. Now in his sixties, Siavash Ghomayshi resides in Germany.