Ghader Abdollahzadeh

Who was Ghader Abdollahzadeh?

Qadir Abdullahzada also known as Qale Mere or Mame Qale born in village of Kulice in northwestern Iran, is one of the best known Kurdish traditional musicians. He played Shimshal/Ney, a Kurdish traditional music instrument. He started to play shimshal as a young and homeless man aiming to earn his daily bread. He played on the streets for an unknown number of years until he was an old man and was filmed by a journalist which was published as a documentary. He was known for the long tones he could create and to play for hours without holding breaks. As a child he was a shepherd and it was about this time that he accidentally started by playing shimshal. 'Qale Mere' means `wise` as a sheep, it was a name as the adults in his childhood had given him because of his calm nature. It says little about how hard his childhood was. He was born as a son of a poor shepherd, and died poor. Upon his death he was not only loved and respected as a musician but his work reached legendary status more importantly he was remembered as a man of principle and moral. A man who refused to sell his soul for the material world, a man who fought and stood for an oppressed nation.