SOMA is the debut album of the SOMA trio Peppe Frana (oud, Afghan Robab), Masih Karimi (tanbur, daf) and Ciro Montanari (tabla, percussion). Frana and Montanari, Italians who have been engaged in research into extra-European musical traditions for years and Iranian Masih Karimi who is a virtuoso of the Kurdish tanbur and daf. The album includes original compositions by the group members inspired by the musical languages of the Indo-Persian and Middle Eastern areas and arrangements of traditional melodies, interspersed with long introductory improvisations of the melodic modes on which the compositions are based.