Deerand is a Persian term that means ‘duration’ (of instrument’s tones). It is also the title of the latest album from Quartet Diminished.

According to Spotify, the band was formed in 2013, and it can’t have taken them long to record their debut album because that was released in 2012 (😲). Actually, that’s a typo – their first album, Station One, was released in 2015. It was followed by Station Two (2018), Station Three (2021) and just last month, Deerand (2024).

It is a challenge to define the genre of Quartet Diminished’s music. What can be heard in their compositions is a combination of Jazz elements, 70’s progressive rock, Iranian musical moods, Iranian dances in addition to classical music, and the 20th century’s avant-garde music seasoned with improvisations.

The band’s Spotify page.

If that’s not intriguing enough, Markus Reuter’s U8 Touch Guitar is featured on all tracks, and Tony Levin contributes electric upright bass or Chapman Stick on the last two.

The four musicians in the core band are absolutely outstanding. Guitarist and founder, Ehsan Sadigh, seems a little shy. Is it he whose fingers fly across the fretboard in Deerand, Pt 2? Or has he deliberately stayed at the back of the stage, like Robert Fripp directing his King Crimson crew? Whether we can attribute the guitar note flurries to Sadigh or guest musician, Markus Reuter, is not at all clear. And that is impressive. Pianist, Mazyar Younesi, takes full command of the ivories, sometimes rippling across the keys, sometimes punctuating the piece with explosions of experimental sound. The bass clarinet and soprano saxophone of Soheil Peghambari wail and rumble mysteriously, while the drumkit rattles and thunders under the supple limbs of Rouzbeh Fadavi. There is extraordinary talent there.

So, what is the Crotchety verdict on the sounds they make? Listening to Deerand is a bit of a challenge, but if you can accept it as contemporary, avant-garde music, it is some of the finest of its kind. Try the rollicking Allegro Per Il Ré for starters. Then tune in to the minimalism of Tehran II. If you can cope with those, you will take in your stride the multipart title track and the meandering Mirror Side. If you persevere to the end of its 56-minute duration, you will have had a memorable adventure. Although, it won’t be quite as calming as a balloon ride in the stillness of dawn.