Abbas Kamandi

About Abbas Kamandi

Abbas Kamandi was a Kurdish singer, poet and screenwriter from Sanandaj, remembered as the voice of some of Eastern Kurdistan's best-loved songs. The Sorani press called him the man of seven arts: he was also a writer, painter, director and broadcaster. He was born in Sanandaj in the early 1950s (sources give 1951 or 1952) and spent almost his whole life in the city.

He began writing for Radio Sanandaj at around eighteen and worked in the city's radio and television for more than thirty years. The decisive meeting of his musical life was with the composer Hassan Kamkar, whose children became the Kamkars ensemble. With them he recorded the albums Hawraman (1981), Pirşing and Gelawêj, which set his warm, direct voice against santur, kamancheh, ney and daf. Rudaw and Persian Wikipedia credit him with around 60 recorded songs and the words to about 150.

Kamandi thought of himself first as a poet, and many of his songs set Kurdish verse rather than reworking folk tunes. His books include his poetry and a biography of the Sanandaj singer Seyed Ali Asghar Kurdistani. He died in Sanandaj on 22 May 2014, aged 62. Songs such as Kaley Bey, Meylî Jiyayî and Beynî Min û To are still sung at gatherings across Kurdistan, and he remains a central figure of the Sanandaj school of Kurdish song.

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