Mohsen Namjoo


Mohsen Namjoo 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.

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". 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. 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, Dina Zarif, Tannaz Jaffari, Serwah Tabbak, Siamack Sanaie, Mark Deutsch:
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, Robert Shelton, Ezra Lipp and Greg Ellis. 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.
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 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” and Iranian Rhythms. The spring 2014 semester was capped by a well-attended concert on the evening of May 10.
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 which has been screened at international film festivals. He also appeared in a feature narrative film called Few Kilograms of Dates for the Funeral, 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.

Discography

Albums

;Studio albums
YearTitlePersian NativeNote
2005Damavand:fa: دماوند |دماوندRemastered 2018
2006Gisگیس
2007Toranj:fa: ترنج |ترنجIn September
2008Jabr-e Joghrafiyaei:fa: جبر جغرافیایی|جبرِ جغرافیایی
2009Oy:fa: آخ |آخIn October
2011Useless Kisses:fa: بوسه‌های بیهوده|بوسه‌های بیهودهIn February
2014Trust the Tangerine Peel:fa: از پوست نارنگی مدد|از پوست نارنگی مددIn May
2016Personal Cipher:fa: صفر شخصی|صفر شخصیIn June
2018On The String of the Tear's Bow:fa: بر چلّه کمان اشک|بر چلّه کمان اشکIn March
2019Phantasm:fa: سودای من|سودای منIn March
2020Grandiloquent:fa: مطنطن|مطنطنIn March

;Live albums
YearTitlePersian NativeNote
2011Alaki:fa: الکی|الکیIn December
201213/8:fa: ۱۳/۸|سیزده/هشتIn Fall
2017Voices from the East:fa: آوازهایی از شرق|آوازهایی از شرقIn July
2017Axis of Solitudeمؤلفۀ عزلتIn October

Audiobooks

;as actor
;Music department
;Soundtrack
;Composer
;Philadelphia, U.S.
2014: Mohsen Namjoo performed with Al-Bustan Takht Ensemble as part of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture concert series.