Frontwoman Yvette Massoudi leads her band Mitra Sumara in a unique niche. The world music group hails as “New York’s only Farsi Funk band.”
Fusing classic Persian pop songs from the 60s and 70 with traditional tunes and Western influences, Mitra Sumara allows Massoudi to reconnect with her own briefly-lost Iranian roots. Meanwhile, the group brings joy and dance wherever they perform.
“It’s impossible to resist Mitra Sumara’s ecstatic spirit,” writes one reviewer from PopMatters. “Why would anyone not want in on some groovy, boundary-breaking love?”
Yvette Massoudi Digs for her Roots
Along with expressing her love for music, Mitra Sumara represents Massoudi’s journey to reconnect with her Iranian background.
Adopted as a baby by American parents and raised in Los Angeles, Massoudi did not recognize her Iranian heritage for many years. Eventually though, she sought out and met her birth father. After a time, she changed her name – Yvette Perez – to reflect her heritage.
While she had spent two decades of her life writing and experimenting with her own music, it wasn’t until that experience that the singer became deeply engaged in the Farsi language and popular Iranian country from the pre-revolutionary period.
Capturing the energy of the ‘70s disco scene in Iran, Massoudi joined up with other musicians of all walks of life, including Peter Zummo, Bill Ruyle, Julian Maile, and Jim Duffy. All of the members of Mitra Sumara first established their careers in international music spheres.
The Languages of Music
Massoudi chose her band’s name for its connection to her roots. “Mitra Sumara” is inspired by the Farsi translation “the light of our friendship.”
However, the funky spirit of the music also pays tribute to the music that was silenced by the Iranian Revolution.
By combining elements of Persian traditions, indie-rock, jazz, and avant-guard communities, Mitra Sumara is described as a “love letter to the beauty of Iranian culture and music.”
Yvette Massoudi Looks to New Media
After playing a number of venues in their Brooklyn home base, Mitra Sumara also showcased their original sounds in Washington, DC. To date, the group has performed at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, and the Freer Sackler Smithsonian Asian Art Galleries.
So what’s next for the band? Massoudi says she is also working on a bilingual English-Farsi multimedia project. This project describes her experience dealing with adoption and personal identity. Keep track of new releases and announcements here.
You can listen to her music on Spotify here.
