ONE of the joys of being a music reviewer is that every now and again you discover something jaw-droppingly wonderful.

In this case it was a young female Iranian singer touring with the Sarv Ensemble. This is a seven piece Iranian/Persian group currently on an Australian tour. Three of the group (I think) are based in Australia, the other four visiting from Iran. They presented a concert of beautiful and complex music.

Along with vocalist Moradi, the group of six instrumentalists is led by tar (Iranian lute) player Majid Derakhshani, regarded as one of the most important contemporary Iranian musicians. Joining him are Canberra based oud player Salar Ayoubi, Vahideh Eisaei playing qanun (a plucked zither), Shahu Andalihi on nay (end blown flute), kamancheh (spike fiddle) player Mehrdad Nasehi and Zahra Ranjpour with two sizes of daf (frame drum).

The concert was, we were told, a mix of classical, folk and contemporary Persian music, although to the uneducated ear there is a similarity of style and structure to the songs. It is a music based entirely around melody and rhythm, with nothing in the tradition that embraces Western notions of harmony.

Each song begins with a solo instrumental line either on one of the stringed instruments or the end blown nay flute. The nay was only used for one of these melodic introductions but it was quite stunning in its virtuosity and expressiveness over a two octave range.

The song structures are unfamiliar and seem a little random, though I am sure they are not. The songs are a mix of tightly rehearsed unison sections, the sung verses and other seeming looser parts where one or other of the instrumentalists is improvising within the melodic mode or scale of the song. It is a fascinating mix of tone colours from the four melodic instruments

The instrumentalists do fade into the background when Maliheh Moradi opens her mouth to sing. This one of the great voices of the age and one of exquisite power and control. Several times we were simply left wondering how she did what we heard. It was not that it was so spectacular, more the control and precision. Moradi is still a young woman, and we can only imagine what glorious music she may create over the next few decades, if Iranian religious politics allow it.