"Years after #YounesDardashti’s death, his granddaughter #Galeet is still singing with him in #NewYork.

Using #archival #recordings of her grandfather’s voice, #GaleetDardashti created her #album #Monajat — meaning an intimate conversation with God — layering her vocals over decades-old tapes of him #singing #Selihot, religious poetry chanted nightly before the #Jewish New Year.

Across the country in #LosAngeles, #JacquelineRafii — senior #cantor of Valley Beth Shalom, one of the largest Conservative #synagogues in the U.S. — is also working to preserve her #Iranian grandfather’s traditional #Persian Jewish #music.

While in #cantorial school, Rafii rediscovered cassette tapes made of her grandfather leading a #Passover seder in #Tehran. When her family was forced to flee the country following the #IslamicRevolution in 1979, they brought that cassette tape with them."

https://forward.com/culture/816997/iran-persian-jewish-music/

Two women race to save Persian Jewish music before it fades

Using tapes of their grandfathers singing in Iran, Galeet Dardashti and Jacqueline Rafii are transcribing and adapting songs that echo centuries of tradition

The Forward
@dukepaaron #galeetDardashti served as our High Holiday hazzanit at #CongregationBethEl in South Orange NJ for a number of years during the 2010's. I loved her davening and still miss it at our services.