Greece and Persia! Two magnificent civilizations which have withstood time; two unending sources of musical culture that have sustained their primordial musical symbols, modes and techniques to the highest and purest form befitting the Muses. The Greek civilization of Pontos was, from ancient times, in constant cultural contact with the people of their immediate region and the Middle East. Let us not forget that throughout the centuries there were many cultural influences and exchanges in language, science, art and to a large extent in the field of music. One can distinguish many similarities and likenesses between Persian and Greek music. Numerous common denominators in sound and function can be established. It is these common factors which we attempted to uncover through these improvised musical dialogues that I had for a single memorable day with my dear friends Ardeshir Kamkar on the Iranian kamancheh and Hussein Zahawy on the daf and daireh. Our session took place at a recording studio in central London. It is worth noting that this is a live studio recording and no editing was done. We attempted to capture the genuine mood of the moment and not to interrupt the flow of our ideas, in order to fully express our musical feelings.

However, through the mood of the moment, we discovered something new; a wonderful and welcomed innovative versatility with our musical instruments. Not only did we discuss and convey our common views on music, but we also found a new way of communicating, extending and broadening even further the musical capabilities of our instruments, thus creating a sound that unites the traditional moods with contemporary techniques of performance and expressiveness.

We present this "contribution of our souls" not only with humility and respect for the art that we serve, but also with pride and hopes for its success reaching a wide audience