“The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.” – Rumi

Hamed Sadeghi grew up with the poetry of Rumi, the 13th century Sufi mystic. Rumi’s best-known work, Masnavi, is revered as one of the world’s greatest works of mystical verse, and it is at the heart of Sadeghi’s new album. Project Masnavi premiered at the Studio as part of UnWrapped at the Sydney Opera House, a showcase for independent artists creating genre-breaking, risk-taking contemporary work. Rumi’s challenge to set aside limits has inspired Sadeghi in many directions, resulting in a rich and compelling brew of ideas and sounds.

Hamed Sadeghi and the Eishan Ensemble at the Sydney Opera House. Photo © Cassandra Hannagan

The Eishan Ensemble is already hard to classify: the core group includes Sadeghi on tar, the Persian classical lute, Maximillian Alduca on double bass and Michael Avgenicos on saxophone (along with percussionist Adem Yilmaz). To this varied and surprisingly delicate mix he has added the muddy groove of Marcello Maio on accordion and the robust rhythms of drummer Alexander Inman-Hislop. Each instrument has its own character, and Sadeghi...