Iranian Music and Popular Entertainment: From Motrebi to Losanjelesi and Beyond (Iranian Studies)

The word motreb finds its roots in the Arabic verb taraba , meaning ‘to make happy.’ Originally denoting all musicians in Iran, motrebi came to be associated, pejoratively, with the cheerful vulgarity of the lowbrow entertainer. In Iranian Music and Popular Entertainment, GJ Breyley and Sasan Fatemi examine the historically overlooked motrebi milieu, with its marginalized characters, from luti to gardan koloft and mashti , as well as the tenacity of motreb who continued their careers against all odds. They then turn to losanjelesi , the most pervasive form of Iranian popular music that developed as motrebi declined, and related musical forms in Iran and its diasporic popular cultural centre, Los Angeles. For the first time in English, the book makes available musical transcriptions, analysis and lyrics that illustrate the complexities of this history. As it presents the findings of the authors’ years of ethnographic work with the history’s protagonists, from senior motreb to pop-rock stars, the book reveals parallels between the decline of motrebi and the rise of ‘modernity.’ In the twentieth century, the fate of Tehran’s motrebi music was shaped by the social and urban polarization that ensued from the modern market economy, and losanjelesi would be similarly affected by transnational relations, revolution, war and migration. Through its detailed and informed examination of Iranian popular music, this study reveals much about the values and anxieties of Iranian society, and is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Iranian society and history. What a pleasure it is to write the foreword to this long-awaited volume, Iranian music and popular entertainment: from Motrebi to Losanjelesi and beyond. I find it to be an important breakthrough volume in the field of ethnomusicology on a number of levels. In this study, highly respected ethnomusicologists GJ Breyley and Sasan Fatemi address a class of musicians and public entertainers, the motreb, who have nearly been erased from history, focusing on the generally ambiguous and negative public attitudes in Iran toward them. They write in depth about this class of public performers, attempting to recuperate their presence and their popular musical and entertainment production and its meaning in Iranian society. In doing so, they go against the traditional approach to the topic by either the avoidance of writing about the motreb or writing about them in a disparaging fashion. That disparaging writing, often done by Iranian intellectuals and music historians, has attempted to consign them to the historical trash bin, condemning their music as “imitative, repetitive, diluted, and sensual.” The word motreb finds its roots in the Arabic verb taraba, meaning to make happy. Originally denoting all musicians in Iran, motrebi came to be associated, pejoratively, with the cheerful vulgarity of the lowbrow entertainer. This book examines the historically overlooked motrebi milieu, with its marginalized characters, from luti to gardan koloft and mashti, as well as the tenacity of motreb who continued their careers against all odds. They then turn to losanjelesi, the most pervasive form of Iranian popular music that developed as motrebi declined, and related musical forms in Iran and its diasporic popular cultural centre, Los Angeles. For the first time in English, the book makes available musical transcriptions, analysis and lyrics that illustrate the complexities of this history. As it presents the findings of the authors' years of ethnographic work with the history's protagonists, from senior motreb to pop-rock stars, the book reveals parallels between the decline of motrebi and the rise of modernity Producing Pleasure : Tehran's Motreb And Ruhowzi -- Contradictory Characters And Marginalization : From Luti To Gardan Koloft And Mashti -- The Repertoires Of Motrebi Music -- The Evolution Of The Motrebi Milieu -- The Evolution Of Iranian Popular Music -- Before The Revolution : Television,the West And Modernity (1965-79) -- After The Revolution : The Los Angeles Factor (1979-97) -- Made In Iran : New Popular Music (1997-2014) -- Conclusion. Gj Breyley And Sasan Fatemi. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.