A multi-instrumentalist, Mr Sharifi was a gifted pianist, guitar player, percussionist, and flautist. Born in Kansas to an Iranian father and an American mother, he was raised in the stew of cultural exchange, learning Middle Eastern, North African, and jazz music from his father, and European classical and liturgical music from his mother. This sonic blending, as well as his deep understanding of musical layering, would come to define his career.