Bahman Rajabi was born
1939 in Rasht. His interest in musical rhythms started in his
childhood by playing on household equipments like metal trays. He
moved to Tehran with his family at a very young age. He could not
afford a Tombak teacher due to financial difficulties. Therefore, He
started learning Tombak by just listing to and observing Tombak
players during his schooling. He also faced family and educational
problems. These difficulties very much delayed his artistic
development.
He considers himself as student of the past and contemporary tombak
masters, by learning from past masters and being influenced by
contemporary masters. He considers Ostad Amir Naser Eftetah as being
more influential.
Bahman Rajabi has renovated and modernized the work of other
artists. He has also made some notable innovations in the art of
Tombak especially in expansion of playing techniques by using
logical methods. He has renovated the traditional Iranian 6/8
rhythms known as "motrebi" or "ruhozi". He has added ten new riz(roll)
to the previous five traditional riz(roll).
He is an excellent orator. He has given many lectures accompanied by
solo performances about Tombak without expecting any financial
reward.
He believes that a modern Tombak artist must be a scholar, a thinker
and a researcher as well as a good player.
Bahman Rajabi is a mountaineer.
Bahman Rajabi believes that art is for attainment of highest human
attributes and not means for accumulating wealth. For this reason,
he never plays in any institution in which art has only
entertainment value.
Book
Tonbak and study of Rhythm from different aspects (Tonbak va
negareshi beh rhythm azzavaya-ye-mokhtalef)
Published by: Entesharat Sorod.
ISBN: 964-5642-19-0
This book is in Farsi. A comprehensive study of Rhythm from
viewpoint of a master Tombak player.
» By Peyman Nasehpour
