Biography: Iranian-American Jazz Singer Rana Farhan
Jazz siren Rana Farhan proclaims on her web site: “Jazz is peace." She's not just borrowing 60s flower child rhetoric. She knows firsthand.
Born in Iran, Rana grew up listening to any albums she could get her hands on, fostering a love for American blues artists like Brownie McGhee, Leadbelly, and Johnny Winter; while rockin' to Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Soon she was begging her older brother to teach her guitar and singing through a microphone she had plugged into an old radio in her families living room.
Rana left Iran after the religious revolution made her artistic pursuits nearly impossible and she soon found herself in New York City, exploring her talents in lacquer paintings, restoring antique furniture, and soaking in the sounds and music of Manhattan. Discovering a love of jazz, Farhan got hooked after hearing a Billie Holiday record one day while strolling through the rich cultural district of Harlem. She decided then and there that this is what she wanted to do.
