Mahsa Vahdat performing at July 9, 2008 Tangents Benefit for Kanun.

Teslim is the Tangenial duo: Kaila Flexer and Gari Hegedus. And they'll be performing an intimate Tangents party concert Friday night, August 22nd.

Violinist Flexer is a Bay Area legend. She is best-known locally for having founded and produced Klezmer Mania!, a much-loved annual Bay Area event for over 10 years (1989-2002). She has been at the helm of bands such as Third Ear, Next Village and Kaila Flexer's Fieldharmonik and performed with Kitka and the Club Foot Orchestra. These days she and Gari Hegedus play with Persian vocalist Hamed Nikpay who put on a memorable 2006 Tangents party in the Presidio. It was one of Hamed's first San Francisco concerts and featured Gari.

http://www.tangents.com/hamedparty.html

Gari is also co-leader of Stellamara and has played with Ross Daly among many others. He has also toured with the Mevlevi Dervish (Sufi) Order of America.

I've wanted to have Gari in a leader role at a Tangents party for a long time.  I love his musical vision. He's also a stringed instrument carnivore. At the party he'll probably play Cretan laouto, oud, Turkish baglama (saz), tarhu, viola and frame drum. Kaila will be playing a variety of violins and viola.

Clarinetist Peter Jaques of Brass Menazeri, Stellamara and Gamelan X describes them best:

"This music is exquisite. It's in the tradition of Cretan innovators like Ross Daly & Stelios Petrakis (who also use Turkish, Persian, and other influences), yet also carries an element of Celtic music, as well as something transcendent & beyond categorization."

PARTY LOGISTICS:

San Francisco house party Friday night, August 22 with Kaila Flexer and Gari Hegedus

This Tangents Party will sell out in advance.

The program for this Tangents Party is as follows:

6p-8p Traditional Tangential Potluck (always a sumptuous feast)

8:15p Kaila and Gari first set

9:30p  Kaila and Gari second set

Suggested contribution is $25 per person. It is not refundable or tax deductible.

Make checks out to "Tangents Radio".

Please include your e-mail, phone number.  (Please do not forget to do this.)

Mail check to:

Tangents Radio

c/o Dore Stein

301 Gambier St.

San Francisco CA 94134-1314

If your contribution is received after the party fills up, your check will be returned unless you specify as a contribution to Tangents Radio and Gari/Kaila.

If you have questions email tangentsradio@gmail.com or call 415 584-4367.

If your home can accommodate 60+ folks, we're looking to expand our network of Tangents party venues. Email tangentsradio@gmail.com. Thank-you.

On July 9, 2008 Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat mesmerized our house party audience with their angelic singing.

After the performance Mahsa discussed issues including censorship and women's rights in Iran. She has written about this on her website: mahsavahdat.com/news.php

She is also an ambassador for freemuse.org . Freemuse advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide. Its website is compelling.

Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat's new cd is "Songs from a Persian Garden". http://www.cdroots.com/kkv-320.html

Mahsa is also featured on two lovely tracks on "Lullabies from the Axis of Evil" http://www.cdroots.com/kkv-axis.html.

If you would like to make a non tax deductible contribution to Kanun, make checks out to "Tangents Radio". Please include your e-mail, phone number and put "Kanun" in the memo

Mail check to:

Tangents Radio
c/o Dore Stein
301 Gambier St.
San Francisco CA 94134-1314

If you have questions email  tangentsradio@gmail.com or call 415 584-4367.