By Jordan Elgrably

After this summer of Islamophobia and ugly reminders of the post 9/11 world, how will you say you spent the evening of September 11th, 2010?

Jon Ossman and Sussan Deyhim: (photos courtesy Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)I found myself at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, listening to Sussan Deyhim's "Panoramic"—a musical kaleidoscope of sound and song that seemed to just about blow everybody's mind. From Joao Gilberto's "Estate" to a lush version of Coltrane's "Naima," I thought Deyhim bathed us in the experience. Especially lush was "Sketches of Persia"—a fusiony adaptation of Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' arrangement of Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez." The number featured Ardishir Farah on guitar (Farah is an Iranian flamenco artist, half of the Strunz and Farah duo) and Keyavash Nourai on the kemancheh. There was a lovely rapport between Deyhim, Farah and Nourai that was girded by Jon Ossman's sturdy bass and Will Calhoun on drums.

The intimacy of the musicians made me feel so included as a member of the audience that I nearly stood up to join in song myself. That's how I always know an artist is brilliant; I feel inspired to the level of wanting to emulate her artistry.

The concept of the "Panoramic" was to take you through several styles and periods in the artist's long career, from her renditions of love songs from around the world to more classical Persian music. Throughout, she mixed Persian and English lyrics and poetry. The arrangements by her partner, composer Richard Horowitz, were sumptuous and irreverent; I found Deyhim's vocals playful and inventive.

Richard Horowitz: ney, keys, piano and electronicsI should say from the start that Sussan Deyhim and I have become friends in recent years, and that I am not pretending to write an objective review. I have also had the pleasure of getting to know Richard Horowitz—a man with an eccentric sense of humor who also happens to be a most engaging storyteller. These qualities are evident in his arrangements. Likewise, Sussan Deyhim's conversation with the audience between songs left little doubt that she is equally idiosyncratic, for she laughs often, appreciates the beauty of irony, and is not afraid to say what she really thinks. (Verbal darts were hurled against the regime in Iran in general and Ahmadinejad in particular, with a few barbs reserved for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East that resulted in our dropping millions of tons of bombs on Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11.)

Mohsen NamjooThe delightful surprise of the evening, however, was a special guest from Iran, Mohsen Namjoo on vocals and setar. The man dressed like a ‘70s rocker in a tee and jeans; he had a large nest of graying hair and a proud beak of a nose that made him look like a cross between Jerzy Kosinski and Sean Penn. When Namjoo strummed his setar and sang in Persian he reminded you somehow of the younger Bob Dylan. In Iran he is a beloved protest singer—last year he was sentenced to five years in prison for "disrespecting religious sanctities," a sentence he has been avoiding by living outside the country. At one point during his performance, playing with contagious zeal, he turned the setar into an oddly dissonant blues guitar, which made me extremely happy. (Namjoo will soon be touring the States with his own ensemble.)

Although the concert stretched over two hours with an intermission, the audience would have sat for more songs (the Broad Stage offers superlative acoustics and plush seats so comfort was not an issue). My guests and I concurred that Sussan Deyhim and her musicians were all at the top of their game. There is no other place I would have rather been on Saturday night, September 11th.

Sussan Deyhim's new EP is City of Leaves, available on Venus Rising Records. She has had a long and fascinating career. Read the details at her site, sussandeyhim.com.