Galeet Dardashti’s multi-sensory project and album, Monajat, is inspired by old and haunting recordings of Jewish prayers chanted by her late grandfather, Younes Dardashti, a famous master singer of Persian classical music in 1950s/60s Iran. Galeet reinvents the ancient ritual of Selihot—poetry sung nightly preceding the Jewish New Year as spiritual preparation—by singing with remixed samples of her grandfather’s legacy recordings. Riffing off these old tapes, Galeet composes a soundscape of original music performed by an acclaimed ensemble of Middle Eastern and jazz musicians.

Monajat was made possible by grants from (1) the Dorit and Gerald Paul Fund for Jewish Culture and the Arts, Born Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University; (2) FJC (which commissioned Monajat from its Inaugural New Jewish Culture Network); and (3) the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.
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releases September 9, 2023

Created and Composed by Galeet Dardashti
Produced by Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz

Galeet Dardashti: lead vocals
Younes (Yona) Dardashti: lead vocals (sampled)
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz: acoustic and electric bass, oud, vocals, sampled sounds, toy piano
Max ZT: hammered dulcimer, vocals
Zafer Tawil: violin, ney, vocals, percussion
Philip Mayer: drums, percussion, vocals, toy piano
John Stanesco: sample-based electronics
Iranian National Radio Orchestra: orchestra (sampled)

Arrangements: Galeet Dardashti, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Omer Avital, Amir ElSaffar, Max ZT, John Stanesco, Zafer Tawil, Matt Kilmer, Philip Mayer, Daniel Ori
Recording engineer: Jacob Belser
Recorded at Primary Sound, Bloomington, IN
Mixing Engineer: Yaron Fuchs
Editing: Fran Cathcart and JC Santalis
Album cover and graphic design: Dmitry Kemell
Album cover photo of Galeet: Doron Gild
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