Mohsen Namjoo - Topic

Mohssen Namjoo's music is best known for two facts: combining Persian (Iranian) traditional music with western music (Jazz, Blues and Rock) leading to intelligently-arranged assimilative music and a whole new way of singing, latter being the point he has been very criticized upon.

Namjoo was born in 1976, in small city of Torbat-e-Jam in northeast of Iran but grew up in Mashhad. Torbat-e-Jam is best known for its dotar (a traditional Iranian music instrument) players. He began to learn Iranian traditional music at the age of twelve, after death of his father--which widely affected his life. He started his studies in traditional Iranian singing (avaz) under supervision of Nassrolah Nasseh-Pour in courses organized by Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Mashhad. After six years, eventually he completed the repertoire of Iranian traditional singing. In 1994 he entered the University of Dramatic Arts in Tehran as he was offered a position to study Theatre. A year after, in 1995 he joined the undergraduate music program at Tehran University where he was a student of some professional music instructors. During the days of studying music, he also got familiar with western music. His music is essentially influenced by Jim Morrison, Chris Issak, Mark Knopfler, The Doors, Leonard Cohen and others.