One could say that the Manganiyar and Langa community music are possibly one the most exported forms of traditional music from India and are known across the globe. Peeru Khan’s own journey with his family tradition in the modern age has found him in a unique place where he is exploring many works of not only the Manganiyars, but also other sufi and folk traditions of Rajasthan.
Behind the voice that graces title soundtracks for Bollywood and Amazon blockbusters like Sultan and Mirzapur alike (to name a few), lies the soul of a vulnerable, fragile, bold, and provocative seeker, looking to heal wounds through the power of song.
Singer-Songwriter, TED speaker, and contemporary Indian Vocalist Isheeta Chakrvarty trained in Hindustani Classical music before chance encounters with first-generation Indian jazz icons like Carlton Kitto and Louis Banks resulted in the birth of a hybrid seed. The Isheeta Chakrvarty Quartet featuring acoustic guitar, sarod and percussions along with her vocals, will be presenting an evocative set of Hindustani music ranging from traditional to original compositions.
Kala Varso was founded in 2012 to preserve and perpetuate the rich tradition of Folk Music & Culture of the Kutch region and to provide financial & social security to the Folk Music artists. They do so by recognising and supporting the Folk Musicians in ways that enable them to continue their musical practices. The trust is run by the artists themselves with the aim of sustaining traditional and cultural art values of this region. Using traditional Reyan (a folk music & knowledge sharing platform) to bring social movement & share Music, Culture, & Tales of Kutch to a global audience.
The performers from Kala Varso bring a wide range of curated Kachcchi musical traditions to the stage and present them at the highest level of skill and musicianship.
Shadow and Light is the contemporary-classical duo of keyboard player/producer Anindo Bose and vocalist/composer Pavithra Chari. They have three albums of original music in Hindi, English and Tamil released worldwide, to critical acclaim, with tours across India, Sri Lanka, and the USA. Their notable collaborators include Karsh Kale, The Berklee Indian Ensemble, and Salim Merchant. Shadow and Light were on the cover of Rollingstone India as the ‘New faces of fusion’ in 2018 won the Avishai Cohen 2020 award. Their most recent release ‘Raahein’ was launched through the Spotify Global Radar program. They will be supported by Dan Thomas on drums and Sonic Shori on bass.
Hailing from Kutch and taking his music to the world, Mooralala Marwada is a kind of a superstar when it comes to the folk music landscape making inroads into mainstream culture. Through his extensive exploration of Kabir, Meerabai and other Sufi/Saint poets and his signature vocal timbre that is instantly recognizable, Mooralala has taken folklore to new heights. His collaborations with projects like The Kabir Project and Maatibaani have expanded his listenership far and wide and his journey so far is definitely one of the benchmarks for folk music outreach in India. His musical passion is extremely visible and endearingly enriches the quality and appeal of his live performances.
Harpreet is a versatile artist, who sings original musical compositions in Hindi, as well as, in regional Indian languages and dialects such as Punjabi, Braj, Awadhi, and Rajasthani. Trained in Hindustani classical music at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in New Delhi, he plays both the guitar and flute with a natural flair. Harpreet has gained critical acclaim for his light classical style of singing and his creative talent fuses both the modern and traditional when composing tunes to his own lyrics and for classical poetry that he loves.
He is best known for creating musical scores to epic works of humanist poets like Kabir and Bulleh Shah. Credited for taking celebrated poets to the masses, Harpreet has also composed popular hummable tunes to words of poets such as Pash (Avtar Singh Sandhu), Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and Nirala (Suryakant Tripathi).
