Mohsen Namjoo

Mohsen Namjoo (* 1976 in Torbat-e Jam ; Persian محسن نامجو) is an Iranian singer and songwriter , writer , musician and setar player .

Mohsen Namjoo

biography

Mohsen Namjoo was born in Torbat-e Jam, a small town in northeastern Iran, in 1976 and grew up in a traditional family in the city of Mashhad . Namjoo's passion for music and literature arose in early childhood. He was very fond of singing about the Koran in school, was artistically active from an early age and participated in various performances as a child. After his father passed away - Namjoo was 12 years old - his mother and older brother decided to send him to a music school. There he was Professor Nasrollah Nassehpoor trained. Contrary to his family's wishes, he decided to become a professional musician and moved to Tehran to study music at the University of Tehran . In order to pass the entrance exam there, he had to learn an instrument. Due to his poor financial situation, he only got one setar .

In 1994 he was admitted to the University of Tehran and began his studies with a focus on theater and music. In the events of the theater studies he acquired knowledge about classical drama and applied it in his ideas and songs. When he began studying music in 1995, he quickly realized that musicology was not what he had in mind. He was very dissatisfied with the classic teaching system at the university. After studying classical Iranian music, he wanted to experiment. He tried to mix these with more modern styles. His ideas were not accepted in various places and often caused him difficulties.

Because of his unusual ideas, his style of singing and his application of Iranian music, he was expelled from university in his third year. After that he had three concerts in Tehran. Since the year 2000 rock and jazz music became more important to him and he tried - similar to Fusion - to mix these two styles of music with traditional Iranian music. The results of these experiments were partly only studies and were recorded with very poor technique. Some of these recordings have been copied and heard by many people across the country. In 2006 a series of private concerts took place and he was selected to appear at the Rotterdam International Film Festival on the subject of “Hotspot Tehran”. The concert was a great success for him and excerpts with an interview were even broadcast on Dutch radio. Mohsen Namjoo was best known beyond the borders of Iran for the documentary Sounds of Silence . In the film by Amir Hamz and Mark Lazarz, the underground music scene in Tehran was portrayed, and other Iranian music pioneers such as O-Hum , Hich-Kas and Emad Bonakdar can also be seen there.

In July 2009, he was sentenced to five years in prison for vilifying the Koran.

education

• 1988 to 1993: Lessons in traditional Persian singing with Nasrollah Nassehpoor
• 1994 to 1997: University of Tehran

Discography

• Toranj
• Damad bath
• Jabr-e Joghrafiyai
• Damavand
• G sharp
• Yes
• Duzakh
• Morgh-e Sheyda
• Oy
• Alaki

Web links

• Official website
• The Renewer Portrait of the Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo

See also

• Iranian music

swell

• Nazila Fathi: Iran's Dylan on the lute with songs of sly protest . In: The New York Times, September 1, 2007.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Iranian musician is supposed to be jailed for five years for song from the Koran  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.