Mike Delanian

Writer, producer, bass player, compiler. Born in England, 1964. Lived as a child in Tehran, Iran, which helped him develop a worldwide music vision. Son of an Armenian/British diplomat and a British ballerina mother (teacher and Ballet Mistress at the Iran National Ballet until 1979). The last 10 years of his life were spent collaborating with his friend Alex Gonzalez on the Zanja Records project - recording modern and traditional Cuban music in Havana with some of the country's greatest and most respected musicians. He had an international reputation as one of the greatest contemporary record collectors and dealers. His legacy will undoubtedly be the Zanja Records project that he built, with Alex Gonzalez, in Cuba. Died in London on February 2025.