Album: Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Bahrami Fard, I Will Not Stand Alone (World Village)

Kalhor is Iran's foremost exponent on the kemancheh spike-fiddle, and here he unveils something different: he's commissioned the instrument-maker Peter Biffin to invent a larger form of kemancheh which he has dubbed the shah kaman: its tone is darker and more atmospheric, and the sound-world created by this and the bass santour (hammered zither) is richly evocative.

Kalhor's accompanying political message is a bit plaintive, but his music is as powerful as ever.