Sepideh Raissadat and Why Berkeley Is The Place To Be...

Sepideh Raissadat

Just went to a fabulous concert at Freight & Salvage!  Sepideh Raissadat, a classical Persian vocalist who also plays the Setar, performed this evening with her ensemble.  Beautiful.  She sang lyrics composed by Rumi and Hafez, whose poetry I love in translation.  I know no Persian (despite the excellent advice by a former professor that an Indian historian who knew Persian would always be in high demand), which is actually nice.  I can sit back, listen, and not need to make sense of anything I'm hearing.  Which may, actually, be the best way to appreciate music.


On the way back home, I found myself marveling at the variety of experiences at my fingertips in Berkeley.  And I'm not just talking about exquisite classical Persian music downtown on a Sunday evening.  Indus Village has fabulous take-out when I found myself short a dish to take to a Saturday afternoon pool party.  When I need a birthday present for a friend enamoured with Bollywood, BombayMusic.com is there (and has come up big the last week with India West, India Currents and Stardust when I was looking for them!).  And for a tasty lunch while catching up with a friend, Udupi Palace remains the place to get really good cheap South Indian food.  All here, all accessible, all fabulous.  A small moment of appreciation for the fact that Berkeley is the place to be this 4th of July weekend.