There were no flowers in the desert, but the scent of melodies hung in the air everywhere, recalls Deben Bhattacharya. In 1955, the music collector travelled from Paris to Kolkata, India, in a converted milk truck. On board: a tape recorder with which Bhattacharya recorded music along the way – not according to ethnological criteria, but simply whatever he liked. In Tehran, it was the musicians Gulfa-e-Ghani and Zareef. With their tombak drums, the two recreated the rhythm of a train, while a third musician imitated its whistle with his mouth.
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