For those unaware, this brand new album entitled Deerand is a Persian term which means duration of instrument’s tones.

Quartet Diminished was established in Iran in 2013 by guitarist Ehsan Sadigh. This is their fourth album, following Station Three (Hermes Records, 2021).

Their music is stylistically diverse, drawing freely from contemporary jazz, art rock, and avant-garde music. The membership has been relatively stable. Sadigh (electric guitar) has had bandmates Soheil Peyghambar (woodwinds), Mazyar Younessi (piano, voice), and Rouzbeh Fadavi (drums) on most of the group’s albums.

The instrumentation suggests many possibilities, including chamber jazz, Rock In Opposition-style art rock, and free improvisation, and the compositions have often been credited to Sadigh. But here the music is credited to the entire band, just as it was on the previous album.

The practice of adding players from outside the quartet to the sessions was also repeated: the personnel includes bass guitarist/Chapman stick bassist Tony Levin, and touch guitarist Markus Reuter–who are also given co-composer credits.

It makes for a bigger sound–the quartet is effectively a sextet most of the time–and clearly, the situation was an inspiration for all of the players. Previous albums have all been given Station numbers, but here the title Deerand comes from a Persian musical term that means the duration of an instrumentʼs tones.

1. Deerand [25:41]
2. Tehran II [14:32]
3. Mirror Side [6:37]
4. Allegro per il Ré [9:32]

With the title tune being an extended four-part suite that showcases all of the aspects of the group’s music, this meticulously-crafted new recording opens on the triumphantly soaring, majestically-hued, twenty-five minute title track Deerand and then brings us the hauntingly ethereal, at first latterly jagged and skittish Tehran II, the mesmerizingly stoic Mirror Side backs it seamlessly, the set closing out on the pulsating musical majesties brought together for the resounding Allegro per il Ré.

Musicians:
EHSAN SADIGH - guitar
MAZYAR YOUNESI - acoustic piano, chants
SOHEIL PEGHAMBARI - bass clarinet, soprano sax
ROUZBEH FADAVI - drums

Special guests:
TONY LEVIN - NS electric upright bass (Mirrorside), Chapman stick (Allegro per il Ré)
MARKUS REUTER - Touch guitar U8, soundscapes

Official Purchase Link

www.quartetdiminished.com