Mohsen Namjoo

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محسن نامجو
Mohsen Namjoo
Background information
Born 1976 (age 37–38)
Torbat-e Jam, Iran
Genres Persian traditional music
Iranian folk music
Iranian rock
Acoustic
Occupations Songwriter
Setar player
Singer
Instruments Setar
Guitar
Years active 1993–present
Website www.mohsennamjoo.com
Notable instruments
Setar

Mohsen Namjoo, (Persian: محسن نامجو‎), is an Iranian musician, singer-songwriter. He was born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town in northeastern Iran. His unique style of music is influenced by Blues and Rock as well as Iranian folk music. The lyrics of his songs are also odd combination of Persian classical poems, his own lyrics, and contemporary poems; and uses the words freely with irony and sarcasm to carry the music and make a free style of singing.

The New York Times wrote, that some called Namjoo "Iran's Bob Dylan".[1]

Career

Namjoo at his concert in Illinois.

Namjoo was born in Iran.

In late 1997 and early 1998, Namjoo had his first two concerts, themed "modern combination of Iranian poetry and music".[2] In 2003 he started recording parts of his own works in Tehran. His debut album titled Toranj was officially released in Iran in September 2007. He also composed soundtracks for movies and plays.

He was featured in the documentary Sounds of Silence (directed by Amir Hamz and Mark Lazarz] which has been screened at international film festivals. He also appeared in a feature narrative film called Few Kilograms of Dates for the Funeral (Director Saman Saloor), played in various film festivals.

In 2009 he was sentenced in absentia to a five-year jail term by Iranian courts for allegedly ridiculing the ash-Shams, a sura of Quran in the song named "Shams". The conviction took place in spite of his formal apology.[3][4][5] After establishing in the West, he sang this song in his Oy album as a single.

In 2010, Namjoo kicked off his "A Minor" tour with a new band ensemble centered around some of his most popular and courageous songs. In June they performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California (US).[citation needed] In October they performed at the Sony Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mohsen Namjoo also released a single titled "Such Strange Times" in June, a song which was sung in English.

In fall of 2011 Namjoo recorded his next album Alaki live during his concert in Stanford University. This album was part of his work in Stanford Pan Asian Music festival. Accompanying band consisted of Ali bazyar (Percussion), Dina Zarif (back vocal), Tannaz Jaffari (back vocal), Serwah Tabbak (back vocal), Siamack Sanaie (Guitar), Mark Deutsch: (Bazantar, Guitar)

In fall of 2012, Namjoo released his new album 13/8. Thirteen/eight is a compilation of six pieces by Mohsen Namjoo, which were developed in the United States during the past year. The performance has been prepared in collaboration with California-based musicians James Riotto (Contrabass), Robert Shelton (Keyboard), Ezra Lipp (Drums) and Greg Ellis (Percussion). Payam Entertainment produced a series of live performances for 2012. The inaugural performance in Berkeley, California will be recorded in preparation for a future double-album release by the same title.[6]

Discography

Movies

  • Chand Kiloo Khorma Baraye Maraseme Tadfin (2005)

Studio albums

  • Toranj (September 2007)
  • Jabr-e Joghrafiyaei (2008)
  • Oy (October 2009)
  • Useless Kisses (February 2011)

Live albums

  • Alaki (December 2011)
  • 13/8 (Fall 2012)

Singles

Audiobooks

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fathi, Nazila (1 September 2007). "Iran’s Dylan on the Lute, With Songs of Sly Protest". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2011. 
  2. ↑ http://www.mohsennamjoo.com/
  3. ↑ http://www.musicema.com/module-pagesetter-viewpub-tid-1-pid-811.html
  4. ↑ http://www.internationalfreepresssociety.org/2009/07/iran-mohsen-namjoo-convicted-for-unconventional-singing/
  5. ↑ http://www.magiran.com/npview.asp?ID=1685697
  6. ↑ http://www.mohsennamjoo.com/?p=777

External links

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