Mohsen Namjoo

Mohsen Namjoo (Persian: محسن نامجو‎) is an Iranian singer-songwriter. His style of music is influenced by blues and rock as well as Iranian folk music. The lyrics of his songs are also a combination of Persian classical poems, his own lyrics, and contemporary poems; Namjoo uses the words freely, infusing them with irony and sarcasm to carry the music and to create a free style form of singing.

Mohsen Namjoo
محسن نامجو
Background information
Born (1976-03-04) 4 March 1976
Torbat-e Jam, Iran
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instruments
  • Setar
  • guitar
Years active1993–present
Labels
  • Daf-Daf
  • Payam
  • Stradivarius
  • Nedai
  • Hozeh Honari
WebsiteOfficial website

Career

Namjoo was born on 4 March 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town in northeastern Iran. In late 1997 and early 1998, Namjoo had his first two concerts, themed "modern combination of Iranian poetry and music".[1] 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.

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). In October they performed at the Sony Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mohsen Namjoo also released a single entitled "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.[2]

Since late 2013, Mohsen Namjoo has been Brown University Middle East Studies' 2014 Artist in Residence. During his residency, he is engaging in a number of activities. On December 7, 2013, to kick off his residency, he gave a performance[3] at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. In spring 2014, he taught the course “Tradition and Protest: Persian and Iranian Music,” and gave several musical talks to public audiences on topics including “Shahram Shabpareh: Honesty and Minor Scale”[4] and Iranian Rhythms.[5] The spring 2014 semester was capped by a well-attended concert on the evening of May 10.[6]

In fall 2014, Namjoo taught “Revolution and Poets: Content and Form in Iranian Poetry.” Organized by Middle East Studies, Brown, he took part in a panel discussion on Protest Music/ Music Performance and Social Change on Thursday, November 13, as well as taking the lead on assembling a couple of Iranian bands, banned from playing in their own country, who came together for the first time in an Iranian Music Festival titled “Iran Underground” on November 15 at RISD Auditorium. The event was part of Brown's 250th Anniversary events.

Namjoo made several film appearances. 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 2016 he played in the feature film Radio Dreams by Babak Jalali. His newest song named "Begoo be baran" was released in March 2019 by Sheed Records company.[7]

Discography
Namjoo in concert in Illinois.

Albums
Studio albums
YearTitlePersian NativeNote
2005 DamavandدماوندRemastered 2018
2006 Gis گیس
2007 ToranjترنجIn September
2008 Jabr-e Joghrafiyaeiجبرِ جغرافیایی
2009 OyآخIn October
2011 Useless Kissesبوسه‌های بیهودهIn February
2014 Trust the Tangerine Peelاز پوست نارنگی مددIn May
2016 Personal Cipherصفر شخصیIn June
2018 On The String of the Tear's Bowبر چلّه کمان اشکIn March
2019 Phantasmسودای منIn March
2020 GrandiloquentمطنطنIn March
Live albums
YearTitlePersian NativeNote
2011 AlakiالکیIn December
2012 13/8سیزده/هشتIn Fall
2017 Voices from the Eastآوازهایی از شرقIn July
2017 Axis of Solitude مؤلفۀ عزلت In October

Audiobooks

Theatre

Filmography
as actor
  • Aramesh ba diazepam 10 (2005)
  • A Few Kilos of Dates for a Funeral (2005)
  • Chand kilo khorma baraye marassem-e tadfin (2006)
  • Not an illusion (2009)
  • Radio Dreams (2016), as Hamid Royani
Music department
  • Behrouz: A Legend on Screen (Documentary, songwriter) (2017)
Soundtrack
Composer
  • A Deep Breath to End (Documentary, 2004)
  • Unforgotten Positives (2004)
  • Chimère (TV Movie, 2015)

Performance
Philadelphia, U.S.

2014: Mohsen Namjoo performed with Al-Bustan Takht Ensemble as part of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture concert series.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Mohsen Namjoo Official Website | Mohsen Namjoo Music". Mohsennamjoo.com. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
  2. "Press Release: Thirteen/Eight Mohsen Namjoo and Ensemble Live in Berkeley and Los Angeles | Mohsen Namjoo Official Website". Mohsennamjoo.com. 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
  3. "Middle East Brown". Middleeastbrown.org. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  4. "Shahram Shabpareh: Honesty and Minor Scale". Middleeastbrown.org. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-05-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "When you are talking about Iranian fusion, what are you talking about?". Middleeastbrown.org. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. https://www.instagram.com/p/BunZOnmHKg9/
  8. "Classical and Contemporary Persian and Arab Music". Albustanseeds.org. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
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