Rana Farhan

"Rana Farhan grew up in Tehran, lives in New York, sings in Persian and English, sounds like Billie Holiday, adores blues and jazz, and is — in almost every other way — a unique cultural product of both her native Iran and her adopted country, the United States. No one else does what Farhan does on albums and in concerts: She combines the rich oral traditions of Persia with the rich oral traditions that originated in black, American culture. Farhan’s sultry, hybridized song book is a revelation to anyone who thinks they already know the full range of blues music." Jonathan Curial KQED San Francisco