Shujaat Husain Khan and Katayoun Goudarzi Display the Ruby’s Perfection

As natural as breathing or walking. That’s the musical marriage between Iranian-born vocalist Katayoun Goudarzi and Grammy-nominated sitar player Shujaat Husain Khan. And it’s also a perfect description of the affinity they both have for the work of the great Persian poet, Rumi. Just how natural is evident on Ruby (released November 6, 2015), the pair’s fifth exploration of the deep beauty of Rumi’s words.

“Rumi was a mystical genius, a great thinker, and a mad artist,” Goudarzi says. “That last part is my focus. I’ve spent a lot of time reading and thinking about it.”

There’s beauty in that madness, and Goudarzi and Khan have eloquently drawn it out in the past. This time, though, they’ve taken a signally different approach to the poems. Where Goudarzi often recited the words, as well as singing, this outing has no spoken word.

“On this record I sing all the poems,” Goudarzi explains. “And we used different instruments – as well as voice and sitar, there’s bansuri flute, tabla, a sarangi, santur, and percussion. They bring different colors to the music, something new. Because of that, Shujaat and I had to find a fresh way of writing, one where we relied less on improvisation.”

Instead of using the emotions in Goudarzi’s voice as a springboard, the melodies on Ruby are carefully constructed. She prepared the texts in detail for Khan, translating and transliterating the words to give the rhythms, and he would compose the music.

“It sounds almost as if the melodies were written at the same time as the poems,” Goudarzi says. “Everything is so wonderfully integrated.”

On tracks like “Adrift” and “Whirling Tree” the moods shimmer and shift along with the lyrics, opening the door to meaning. Voice and instruments create a light, delicious union. But much of that is due to Goudarzi’s performance, Khan insists.

“She’s special,” he notes. “She knows her craft, but she delivers the songs with such emotional attachment that everything seems easy and seamless. It’s like breathing, absolutely natural.”

The work of Rumi has been part of the core of Goudarzi’s life. It’s been there since she was very young, introduced to the words and thoughts of the great Persian poet and mystic by her father.

“Classical poetry and music are inseparable in Iran,” Goudarzi recalls. “As a little girl I often performed poetry. I could say the words but I couldn’t yet feel them in my soul, like the ghazals he wrote out of his great love for Shams-e Tabrizi.”

A single, desperate moment gave Goudarzi that understanding. Visiting Istanbul with her brother, she was involved in a terrible accident. 

“I was told I might die,” Goudarzi remembers quietly. “I was so scared. But I thought, ‘Thank God it’s me, if this happened to my brother I couldn’t stand the pain.’ And with that I went from fear to absolute calmness. The diagnosis was wrong, obviously, but I walked away from that a completely different person because of the intense love for my brother. Every time I’ve read Rumi since then, it’s with a new appreciation and comprehension. I believe it comes through in my performances; every one of them is from the bottom of my heart.”

The depth of that emotion is apparent in every note of Ruby. Songlines has called Goudarzi’s voice “always tonally luscious,” while Rolling Stone has described her previous collaborations with Khan as “world music in the truest sense of the world.”

“This is a record from our souls,” Khan agrees. “It’s not something overproduced. It just seemed to flow, like walking.”

From the very start, though, Khan and Goudarzi have had a natural empathy. Even before they met they’d heard each other’s work and felt an affinity.

“We finally met when he played in New York,” Goudarzi says. “We talked and it felt right, everything made sense. It was so effortless. Then we began working together and our friendship deepened. Artistically we click, it’s as simple as that.”

Over seven years and the albums they’ve made together, everything has grown, and on Ruby it’s found its most beautiful coloring yet. Delicate and spiritual, the melodies are deliciously open and accessible. Every part works together to convey the mood and the emotions behind the words. It all fits as if it could never have been any other way.

“When Katayoun and I get together, we speak a special language,” reflects Khan. “We can feel each other’s emotions changing. It’s so beautiful and so unbelievable, creating something from that.”

And in Ruby they’ve created a flawless gem.