When Maneli Jamal plays guitar his hands wander over every part of it, pulling melodies from the strings and beating rhythms from the body. His musical movements  are inspired by a nomadic life. He has lived in five different countries (Iran, Belarus, Germany, USA, Canada) and had moved twenty times by the time he was 18.Those journeys gave Maneli a sense of musical maturity rarely seen among his peers.

There aren’t many players in his style that have Jamal’s balance of power and sensitivity, nor his breadth of ideas. His rhythmic concepts can be alternately short and dense, or explored carefully through several movements and real life stories. When audience members seeing Maneli perform for the first time have regained their breath they give remarkably consistent reviews that echo a chorus of critical acclaim: “You’ve got to see him play!”