Mohammadreza Raeesi

(1984; Tehran)

In 1999, MohammadReza Raeesi, with his inclination towards percussion instruments, commenced playing daf, and upon this laid the foundations for his musical destiny by mastering performance styles of other percussion instruments such as Udu, Dammam, Tombak , Dayere, Tempo, Dohol, Kasure, Bendir and Cajon.

Among maestros who taught and guided Raeesi are Bijan Kamkar, Karen Kayhani, Iman Mashayekhi and Homayoun Nasiri. To employ the cajon playing styles of the day, Mohammad Reza Raeesi also attended the “Master Class” of Hakim Ludin.

Numerous collaborations with various musical groups led by prominent artists, such as Karen Kayhani, Amir Eslami, Ehsan Faramarzipour and Hushyar Khayyam, are examples of his effort to further hone his stage and studio performance skills.

In 2011, MohammadReza Raeesi in collaboration with Mohamed Moa’zenbashi and Vafa Mesbahi founded “Kooch” musical band. So far, a number of stage performances and a forthcoming audio work are the results of this partnership.

Along with performing music, he engages in diverse activities in the field of research, writing and teaching. Of his major accomplishments is a two-volume book with historical and educational approach to playing cajon. The first volume of the book was published in 2014 by Nay-o-ney and the second is pending publication. Additionally, an exploration into the “rhythm in Iran’s ritual music” as well as nearly a decade of teaching percussion instruments are worth mentioning as his noticeable works.

Striving to produce high-quality cajons is another of Raeesi’s ancillary artistic interests. Cajons shaped by his hand, under the “Palos” brand, have long been used by cajonists in Iran.