A Persian Dream

For those whose appetites might have been whetted by the standout performance of the Iranian Vahdat sisters, here's another contemporary Persian voice who, like the Vahdats, has been forbidden to sing in Iran due to being female. The Vahdats remain in Tehran, whereas Tara Tiba left in 2012 to go to Australia, where she signed up to a jazz course. This is a fusion between Persian music and jazz, with both saz (lute) and sax to the fore. In some songs the two elements don’t completely gel together, such as the jazz standard ‘Autumn Leaves’, which ends up sounding like an admittedly superior cabaret act with somewhat overdone vocal embellishments. The Persian compositions like ‘A Persian Dream’, with its 11th-century words, pack a much more powerful emotional punch. A traditional tune from the north-east of Iran, ‘Segador’, is an enjoyable romp of a song, which brings the two sides together effectively and must surely be a storming live number.

If the Vahdats are the finished article, Tara Tiba isn’t quite there yet, but her potential is massive – if she can just slightly adjust her musical compass.