Abasi Kamandi Speaks of his Music, and True Love

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Ever since he sang a duet with the doe-eyed Shahen Talabani two decades ago, renowned Kurdish folk singer Abasi Kamandi has been a haunted man.

Yet it is not love for Talabani that has stalked Kamandi, a singer and visual artist from Iranian Kurdistan, but rumors of a lasting affair between the pair since they sang the memorable Sabri Gyan. 

“For the past 20 years I have been saying that there is no affair between me and Shahen,” says Kamandi, who was recently in the city of Sulaimani in Iraqi Kurdistan for an exhibition, where he spoke to Rudaw.

“I have never been in love with Shahen, but people keep saying that we have a love affair. What can I do? People want to create heroes, they want to create another Majnoon (Romeo).”

Kamandi, who was for years the voice of the Kamars Band, warns that traditional Kurdish music is under threat from Arabic and Turkish songs.

“Many of us today imitate the Turkish and Arab singers,” he says. “Many Kurdish singers just apply Kurdish lyrics to Arabic or Turkish songs, and then we call this Kurdish music. If we continue on this path, Kurdish music will collapse.”

Kamandi, who is considered one of the masters of Kurdish folk music, believes that today’s young singers do not understand the meaning of traditional music. 

He believes that musicians who have returned from abroad with advanced degrees have failed to contribute to Kurdish folk music.

“They cannot apply what they have learned to advance Kurdish music.”

He adds that, “Sometimes when you listen to our singers you cannot tell if their music is Kurdish, Arabic, or Turkish until they start singing the words.”

Kamandi says that he fell out with the Kamars Band after they began meddling in his work.

“The older brother in the group meddled in our work very much. Very often I feel sad that I am not working with them, though,” he regrets.

Kamandi, who was born in 1952 in the Kurdish city of Sina in western Iran and has recorded more than 150 songs since beginning his singing career at the age of 25, says he has released no new albums in the past few years due to high production costs.

The artist may not have loved co-singer Talabani, but there is another love in his life that he cannot fathom leaving: His birthplace in Iranian Kurdistan.

“Sina is the cradle of my love,” he says, when speaking of singers who have left for the Kurdistan Region or the West. “No place in the world is as pretty as Sina. I came into this world in Sina, and will leave this world from Sina.”