Music motivates memories in our brains. Researchers in the field of the neuroscience tell us that music is able to trigger images and emotions so intense, that they have been described as �chills.� Small wonder why the religious rulers of Iran have proclaimed that music is not to be taught or practiced under their rule, saying it leads to seduction and corruption.

Today in Iran, music produced before the 1978 revolution, Western music, and albums made by performers from outside the Islamic republic are banned from airplay, distribution and from being played inside taxicabs. Iran�s rulers (and their Salafist ideological brethren) want full control of what goes into the minds of their subjects.

So, it is not unexpected that Rita Yahan-Farouz� �Ha Smachot Sheli� (�My Joys�) officially is banned in Iran. Known as Rita, she is one of Israel�s most popular singers. �My Joys� is a Persian-language album of late 1950s and �60s Iranian songs, modernized with a dance beat. Rita has released 12 albums, all of which have gone gold or platinum or multi-platinum in Israel. And, �My Joys� probably would go gold in Iran � if it weren�t forbidden.

Unfortunately, I do not speak Farsi. Nor am I well educated in either classical Persian or modern Iranian music. A Persian Jewish acquaintance, who lives in Los Angeles, said the music on Rita�s album represents the music one would hear on Iranian radio and recordings in the time of Rita�s parents. This was extremely popular music, because it lived through radio airplay. By the mid-20th century, even the most remote villages in Iran had radios, allowing people to listen to its programs and especially to music.

The songs of that era were influenced by Western musical trends, with familiar Middle Eastern tones and melodies. Before this era, Iranians listened to somber, traditional music, with heavy poetry (similar to what is permitted now under the Islamic government). The music on Rita�s CD represents the 20 years prior to the Iranian revolution. It brings to mind a period that seems to have been so alive, colorful and full of possibilities � especially since women were a major part of Iranian music.

Some of the songs, like �Beegharar,� are folkloric and come out of the Kurdish tradition. Others, like �Shaneh,� which became a hit single in Israel, is about 100 years old and was previously revived by a popular singer named Pooran. Backed by the electrifying Israeli Eastern rock group Knesiyat HaSekhel (The Mind Church), and the more traditional Central Asian Israeli Alaev Family, this is music that everyone, young and old, can relate to. Like much of contemporary Israeli ethnic rock and fusion music, Rita�s release demonstrates the amazing diversity of Israeli music. And, although Rita is banned in Iran, her CD has been downloaded and has been distributed on Iran�s black market. Her �Joys� have become the joys of a people starved for an unsupervised authentic Persian music. We know with certainty that the musically deaf mullahs cannot evoke that kind of joy.

Rita is touring North America during November. Unfortunately, she is bypassing Houston. And, she will be forced to bypass Teheran. However, a copy of her CD can be ordered online.

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The Russian classical pianist, Alexei Lubimov, will be playing here on Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m., at The Menil, 1515 Sul Ross St. The concert, �Passions and Meditations,� is part of Da Camera�s 25th anniversary season.

I really wasn�t familiar with Lubimov until a few months ago when I received a two-CD recording of Claude Debussy�s �Preludes� from the folks at ECM Records. Although Debussy composed a century prior to the development of the field of neuroscience, he knew how music could stimulate tactile sensations in the brain. Debussy consciously pushed a new concept of tonality in his compositions, often using two keys at once (bitonality). By the time Debussy composed his Second Book of Preludes, he had fully developed what one critic called his �psycho-pictorial� abstract style for piano.

Lubimov is a world-class Debussy interpreter; meticulous in his use of dynamics, effortless in the way he shapes rhythmic sections, so that the musical lines always are liquid. The second half of Lubimov�s recital will be Book 2 of the �Preludes.� It promises to be one of the highlights of this musical season. Da Camera has become Houston�s leading venue for chamber music and jazz, and the Lubimov program is the latest example.