I have spent some time listening to the music of Iranian composer/violinist/'ud player Simon Shaheen. I have only two of his albums right now: The most recent, which is one of the East-West-styled collaborations with his band Qantara, and the other is his performances of the music of Mohamed Abdul Wahab.
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to see Shaheen and Qantara as part of a local series put on by a museum. It was a great year that year, as they had The ICP Orchestra, and Charms of the Night Sky group with Dave Douglas as well.
Shaheen was superb, and his band was fantastic as well. The wife and I were able to sit front and center. Two things stuck out fo rme at this show. First was percussionist Jamey Haddad. He plaeyd frame drums for most of the concert, and his mastery wsa something to behold. Second, was the story he told about tuning the 'ud. He spoke of how difficult it is to maintain tuning, and he retuned a bit after each performance. Once at a concert, he was having a harder time finding the right tuning, and he kept playing around and tuning and palying around and when he was finished and ready to start the piece, the audience applauded, thinking it was a piece or improvisation.