Mo Jamal
Lost Persian Cat
Don’t you just hate those people who excel in more than one thing? Well maybe not hate, but certainly envy. Multidimensional local artist Mo Jamal is just such a person. Hailing from Iran, Jamal has earned a few art degrees (including a stint at France’s renown Sorbonne), and had exhibitions in Iran, Germany, and here in the U.S. On Lost Persian Cat, however, Austin-resident Jamal displays his obvious talents as a musical artist and as a violinist. Jamal’s experimental intent on this hourlong debut is to incorporate Western classical violin playing techniques within historical, folk-fueled, Persian composition styles. The outcome, linear and pensive, melodic and introspective, is predominantly instrumental, with music and poetry mixed on the title track. The nearly-Paganini opening of “With Your Warm Hands” is followed by the 20-minute epic “Seven Cities of Love,” where Jamal accompanies himself — as he does on about half of the eight tracks here — on the sétar, a centuries-old, long-necked, Persian lute. More cerebral than visceral, Lost Persian Cat has a few of the studio sidesteps you’d expect in a self-released first outting, but for the most part keenly showcases Jamal’s musical artistry. (Elephant Room, Saturday, Mar 18, 9pm)
This article appears in March 10 • 2000.