"Most startling, an extraordinary collection of rhythms and timbres" -Don Hecman, Los Angeles Times

"Well on his way to legendary" -John Payne, LA Weekly

"Extraordinary Percussionist" -John Schneider, KPFK

"Percussion Genius" -Chris Sampson, KPFT

"Pourmehdi is a master drummer whose mastery of the Persian percussion instruments and knowledge of traditional Persian music is to be admired" -John Beck, Percussive Arts Society

"The Mind-blowing Daf player" -Lisa RichardsonLos Angeles County Arts Commission

HOUMAN POURMEHDI was introduced to Persian music by his father, and received his first Tonbak at the age of three from his grandfather. He was privileged to study Tonbak under guidance of the late Grand Master Amir Nasser Eftetah. At sixteen he continued his studies at the Center for Preservation and Propagation of National Music, where he completed the techniques of playing Tonbak under supervision of Master Morteza Ayan. His interest in the spiritual path of Sufis introduced him to the Ghaderi Sufi order's virtuoso Daf players, such as Haj Agha Sadeghi, Mirza Agha Ghosi, and Darvish Karim, with whom he studied the heart-to-heart traditional techniques of playing Daf.
Pourmehdi moved to Chicago in 1988, where he founded the society for the Advancement and Preservation of Traditional Persian Music; it was here that he first fathomed the exciting possibilities of introducing the unique sounds of Persian instruments to American audiences. He also preserved the ancient Persian Percussive instrument called Kurekeh. The Society also facilitated his meeting the eminent Mohammad Ali Kianey-Nejad, who taught him the Ney (Persian Reed Pipe).
Houman is both a recording artist and concert musician. He is hailed as "one of top ten percussionist in the world", by World at your Beat's. He had many concerts with luminaries as Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Hassan Nahid, Hossein Omumi and Dariush Talai in Classical Persian Music and several concerts with Eminent as Wadada Leo Smith, John Bergamo, and David Johnson, Khaled Jubran in creative contemporary world music. He performed at many festivals such as the Jubilee in the Tennessee (1992), An evening of classical Iranian music in Kennedy Center (1992), Parliament of the world's Religions in Chicago (1993), Sufi music of the world in Los Angeles (1995), Verde I Norden in Norway (1996), World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles (1999 & 2002), Long Beach Symphony in Long Beach (2000), CalArts Creative Music Festival in Valencia (2000), Hilltop Cultural Celebration by Coca-Cola in Atlanta (2000) L.A. Folk Arts Festival in Ford Amphitheatre (2001& 2003), He was a featured artist World clinics at the (2002) Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Ohio Columbus. He has performed widely throughout Europe, North America and North Africa. Houman has many recordings including: The Art of Improvisation in Chahargah (recorded with Master Mohammad Reza Lotfi in 1991), Sufi Music of Iran (recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 1996), The Name of the Beloved, Banquet in the Tavern of Ruin, Syncopation (with John Bergamo), Dar Shekarestan, and The Call of Love (with Rajeev Taranath). Houman can be heard on film soundtracks by composer Danny Elfman such as Hulk, War Store (NBC), Young Black Stallion, (Disney) and Troy. Along with several colleagues he founded The Liän Ensemble.
He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches Tonbak, Daf, Ney and pursues his own studies in world music.

Houman Pourmehdi's website http://lianrecords.com