News India Times May 1, 2015
25
K
ailash Kher,
a world
renowned
Sufi singer has
been compared to
the legendary
Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan, and has
been inspired by
the classical
musician Pandit
Kumar
Gandharva. Kher
has a soulful, raw,
high pitched
voice, which
makes his singing
unique.
Kher’s journey to
stardom has not
been smooth,
neither has his training in music, which was
full of hurdles. He grew up listening to his
father singing folk and devotional songs
which has still been an inspiration in his
singing. He never found the right guru but
learnt by listening to singers like Pandit
Bhimsen Joshi, Lata Mangeshkar and their
contemporaries.
According to A.R Rahman, Kher’s voice has
a “pure soul” and a “fragrance of rural
Indian soil.” Rahman’s alltime favorite is
“Allah Ke Bande.”
During one of his interviews with Kavita
Chibber, Kher said “the lyrics that attract
him are the ones that are closest to the
organic truths of life, and to nature, which is
why he is attracted to the mystical Sufi
music.”
Sufi music is the devotional music of the
Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets
like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir
Khusrow and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. It is
sung as qawali, kafi and ghazals in the
Indian subcontinent. However, it is also
central to the Sema ceremony of the
whirling dervishes. Similarly the West
African gnawa is another form, and Sufis
from Indonesia to Afghanistan to Morocco
have made music central to their practices.
Kher and his band bring elements of folk,
pop and rock to Sufi music.
SAMAA (South Asian Music and Arts) is
presenting Kailash Kher with his band,
Kailasa on Sunday May 3rd, 6:00PM at The
TownHall in New York City.
For tickets visit
and
For more information, contact
917409SAMA or
Kailash Kher and Band Kailasa to
Perform in New York City
Left to right Pinesh Patel, partner IGO, Thomas Lankey Edison Mayor, Anil Patel partner
IGO and HR Shah chairman TV Asia also seen at opening ceremony.
Indian Grocery Outlet celebrated
their first anniversary!
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