Through the 1990s, X DOT 25 Music produced a series of large-scale world-music festivals across the San Francisco Bay Area — nights of spiritual music, poetry, and dance at the Palace of Fine Arts and the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley. These are the concerts that defined the era.
★ World Premier ★
Axiom of Choice in Concert
Presenting the music from their debut album “Beyond Denial” on X DOT 25 Music
Saturday, June 24, 1995 · 8:00 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
Featuring
Mamak Khadem — Vocals
Loga Ramin Torkian — Guitar
Pejman Hadadi — Percussion
Greg Ellis — Percussion
Cameron Stone — Cello
Babak Torkian — Art Director
Program
Desert Storm — exhilaration, agony, and conviction
Whisper — based on the melody of “Naghmeh”
Kailas — quarter-tone guitar and Udu in the modal scale of “Mahoor”
Kaef — quarter-tone guitar, tombak and Udu in “Chahar Gah”
Valeh — inspired by Rumi, on longing and devotion
Rhythm Riddle — built on various time signatures
Kam — vocal improvisation on a melody by Cameron Stone
Palace of Fine ArtsConcert PosterProgram Guide — OutsideProgram Guide — InsideConcert CardConcert Card
A Night of Spiritual Music, Poetry & Dance — a journey into the innermost regions of human spirituality. Based on “The Mystery of Sama,” composed by Hafez Modirzadeh.
Saturday, December 28, 1996 · 8:00 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley · Kensington, California
Featuring
Hafez Modirzadeh — Karna, Soprano & Tenor Sax
Parisa Vaaleh — Vocals
Parinaz — Vocals
Alan Kushan — Santur
Ustad Mohammad Nejad — Persian Ney & Setar
Koorosh Angali — Poetry of Rumi, Hafez & other Sufi poets
Nima Rezaee — Sticks
Dariush Minaee — Drums
Eunmi Shin — Solo Piano
Shahrzad — Persian Dance
Program
Entrance with Karna
Rise, O Daylight — Santur drone, Rumi’s Rubai
Beloved Enters the Soul
“Finally” You Took Abode in My Soul — Ghazal
— Intermission —
The Second Dawn
Lullaby — for the Child of the Entranced
The Blessed Is the Intoxicated
The Final Lesson
The Finale — The Dice of Faith
First Unitarian Universalist Church · KensingtonFirst Unitarian Church of Berkeley
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ Concert Series #II ★
Mystery of Sama 2
A Night of Spiritual Music, Poetry & Dance — a celestial night of the poetry of Rumi, Hafez, and other Persian Sufi poets.
Saturday, April 4, 1998 · 8:30 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
Featuring
Hafez Modirzadeh — Karna, Nay, Soprano Sax
Yussi & Django — Flamenco Guitars
Alan Kushan — Santur
Ustad Habib Khan — Sitar
Shafqat Ali Khan — Vocals
Koorosh Angali — Sufi Poetry
Paulo Baladi — Dumbek
Michael Lewis — Tabla
Richard Michos — Guitars
Salar Nader — Tabla
Tim Witter — Tabla, Percussion
Shahrzad — Persian Dance
Program
Entrance with Karna
Sufi & Dance of Jenn
Voices of Spheres
Evening Light
— Intermission —
Entrance with Karna
Mystery of Sema I
Mystery of Sema II
Mystery of Sema III
State of Enchanted All
Palace of Fine Arts · April 4, 1998Mystery of Sama 2 · 1998
$18 advance · $20 at the door
★ World Music Concert Series #III ★
Aldoush & The Human Exchange
Classical Fusion of the Far East — contemporary folk and classical music from India & Persia, with a new interpretation of Persian folk and classical music.
Saturday, October 2, 1998 · 8:30 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
Featuring
Aldoush — Voice, Acoustic Guitar, Nazanin, Setar
Ian Dogole — Udu, Tombak, Global Drum Set
Scott Hill — Alto & Soprano Sax, Clarinet
David McQueen — Tombak (Zarb) & Daf
Jeff Obee — Bass
Shahrzad & Ahdi — Persian Dance
With Special Guests
Ustad Habib Khan — Sitar
Alan Kushan — Santur
Stephen Kent — Didgeridoo
Hans Christian — Cello
Sultan Pakhawaj — Tabla
Ben Mawhorter — Tabla, Tombak
Program
Indian Fusion
Persian Fusion
New Interpretation of Persian Folk and Classical Music
Jam Session
Palace of Fine Arts · October 2, 1998
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ World Music Concert Series #IV ★
VAS in ConcertVeiled · Greg Ellis & Azam Ali
“O my soul, there is a link between your heart and mine. And my heart is looking for that path. My heart is clear and pure like water, and pure water is a perfect mirror for moonlight.” — Molana Jalalu’din Rumi
Friday, April 16, 1999 · 8:30 PM
Palace of Fine Arts · San Francisco, California
VAS in Concert
Azam Ali — Voice, Hammered Dulcimer
Greg Ellis — Percussion
Cameron Stone — Cello
Presenting the music from their new album “Offerings.”
Special Guests
Ustad Habib Khan — Sitar
Ustad Mohammad Assef Mahmood — Tabla
Ben Mawhorter — Tabla
Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri — Tabla
Koorosh Angali — Reciting Rumi’s Poetry
Also celebrating the release of the “Evening Light” album, featuring Ustad Habib Khan on Sitar & Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri on Tabla — on X DOT 25 Music.
Program
Veiled
Evening Light
The Bond
Sunyata & Offerings
Veiled
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Narada Records · Faz Restaurants · Haight Ashbury Music Center
★ Concert Series #V · Third Millennium Music Festival ★
Dawn of the New Millennium
A Night of Spiritual Music, Poetry & Dance — celebrating the placement of Persian Sufi poets Rumi (No. 71) and Ibn Sina (No. 73) on Life Magazine’s Millennium Top 100 People.
Saturday, January 22, 2000 · 8:00 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley · Kensington, California
Ibn Sina and Rumi made Life Magazine’s list of the Millennium’s Top 100 People, ranking No. 71 and No. 73. Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic, composed passionate poems that found the divine in people, nature, and everyday life. Ibn Sina — known in the West as Avicenna, the “prince of physicians” — wrote The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine.
Concert · January 22, 2000First Unitarian Universalist Church · KensingtonDawn of the New Millennium · 2000
$18 advance · $20 at the door Sponsors: Gallery Ovissi · Haight Ashbury Music Center · Faz Restaurants