Jazz music emerged in Iran along with the development of western influences into the pop music. One of the pioneers of jazz music in Iran was Alfred Lazaryan, a little-known singer and dancer whose first recorded song made a hit on the Iranian national radio.[4] However, Lazaryan soon gave up singing.[4]Viguen Derderian, a celebrated pop and jazz artist popularly known simply as "Viguen", began his career in the early 1950s.[3] Viguen's first song, Moonlight, which was released in 1954,[1] was also an instant hit on the radio,[3] and is considered to have marked a turning point in Iran's western-influenced music.[1] Viguen created some of Iran's most memorable songs, including collaborations with Delkash,[3] and was known as Iran's "Sultan of Jazz".[1][2][3][5]
After the 1979 Revolution
A music group named Ejazz performed the first officially sanctioned jazz music concert in post-revolutionary Iran.[6] They produced jazz fusion, incorporating elements from the indigenous classical music.[6]
Rana Farhan, an Iranian jazz and blues singer living in New York,[7] combines classical Persian poetry with modern jazz and blues.[8] She has established a model to the jazz fusion project that she continues to incorporate in her work. Her best-known work, Drunk With Love, is based on a poem by prominent 13th-century Persian poet Rumi.[7]
Bomrani, one of the first country blues bands in post-revolutionary Iran, was founded in 2008, as part of a new wave of influences onto the music stages of Tehran.[9] Pallett, a similarly successful band that was formed in 2009,[10] composes jazz fusion of clarinet, cello, and double bass.[9] They have garnered a huge following in Iran, and have also performed abroad.[11]
