Hassan Kassa'i, the great Iranian master of the Ney, passed away on 14 June 2012.
Hassan Kassa'i was born on 25 September 1928 in Isfahan, Iran, and died on 14 June
2012 (aged 83) in his home town Isfahan. He was considered the greatest master
of the Iranian Ney, an end-blown reedflute, of the century. He started learning the Ney from
Mehdi Navai at the age of 12. He also learnt the basics of traditional Persian
music and the Radif from master Abolhassan Saba. As he was an exceptional
improviser, his performances always sounded fresh. Amongst his best students are
Mohammad Mousavi and Hossein Omoumi.
In the last ten years more then
15 CDs of his music have been published in Iran, some with recordings from the
1960s or early 1970s, some with recent recordings. They can be obtained from:
info@raga-maqam-dastgah.com
See also his website:
http://www.kassaimusic.ir
Here we present in his memory his only LP published
in the west:
Side A:
Dastgah-e Shour (22:33)
Side B:
Dastgah-e Mahour (23:14)
