Performing together in the UK for the first time. Can beauty save the world? This is the question of Bijan Chemirani, Redi Hasa and Rami Khalifé, three virtuosos who came together to create L’Antidote, an instrumental repertoire of rare finesse that pits the healing power of music against the poisons of the present day.

A master of the Iranian zarb and Persian percussion, Bijan Chemirani combines his science of rhythm with Albanian cellist Redi Hasa, known for his contribution to the revival of traditional music in southern Italy, but also for his work with Maria Mazzotta, Ludovico Einaudi and Robert Plant, and Lebanese pianist Rami Khalifé, who masterfully blurs the boundaries between classical and electro on the keys of his piano. Although their paths had already crossed, the real meeting took place on the cusp of the pandemic, in a studio in Puglia, near Lecce, when time seemed about to stand still. 

The three musicians drew on their exceptional gift for improvisation in composing this album, which dispenses with scores. Far from egotrips, through listening to each other, in L'Antidote, Bijan Chemirani, Redi Hasa and Rami Khalifé weave together poetic and sensitive landscapes where both their personal grammar and glimpses of a plural Orient are invited, balancing between their intimate geographies and a shared taste for experimentation.

Presented in collaboration with ArtStage and Vaak Records