Recorded live in Munich on October 27, 2023 in Munich, using a single stereo microphone, this album captures the atmosphere and immediacy of the performance, including all the subtle sounds and nuances of the room. 

“The Cup Flows Over: Art from Iran” was an exhibit that took place in the autumn of 2023 at Gallery Bergen, New Jersey, and Glockenbachwerkstatt, Munich, curated by Tim Blunk, Michael Grossmann, and an anonymous Iranian artist who wishes to remain nameless. The exhibition featured a live performance by the band Homayoun, featuring Ali Sayah from Iran, whose work appeared in the New Jersey exhibit, and co-instigator David Rothenberg. Berlin electronic musician Bernhard Wöstheinrich rounds out the band, and for this show we were joined by the soft vocals of Lima Vafadar.

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Song titles from Hafez, a poem whose entirety is reproduced below:


FOR YEARS MY HEART INQUIRED OF ME

By Hafez
Translated by Dick Davis

For years my heart inquired of me
Where Jamshid’s sacred cup might be,
And what was in its own possession
It asked from strangers, constantly;
Begging the pearl that’s slipped its shell
From lost souls wandering by the sea.

Last night I took my troubles to
The Magian sage whose keen eyes see
A hundred answers in the wine
Whose cup he, laughing, showed to me.
I questioned him, “When was this cup
That shows the world’s reality

Handed to you?” He said, “The day
Heaven’s vault of lapis lazuli
Was raised, and marvelous things took place
By Intellect’s divine decree,
And Moses’ miracles were made
And Sameri’s apostasy.”

He added then, “That friend they hanged
High on the looming gallows tree—
His sin was that he spoke of things
Which should be pondered secretly,
The page of truth his heart enclosed
Was annotated publicly.

But if the Holy Ghost once more
Should lend his aid to us we’d see
Others perform what Jesus did—
Since in his heartsick anguish he
Was unaware that God was there
And called His name out ceaselessly.”

I asked him next, “And beauties’ curls
That tumble down so sinuously,
What is their meaning? Whence do they come?”
“Hafez,” the sage replied to me,
“It’s your distracted, lovelorn heart
That asks these questions constantly.”

credits

David Rothenberg: Bass Clarinet
Bernhard Wöstheinrich: Keyboards, Virtual synthesizers
Ali Sayah: Tar
Lima Vafadar: Vocals (on Beauties’ Curls Tumble Sinuously)

Mastered by Markus Reuter
Photography by David Rothenberg
Artwork by Bernhard Wöstheinrich