Karsh Kale

Karsh Kale

Karsh Kale performing in Bangalore in January 2009
Background information
Birth name Utkarsha Kale
Also known as Karsh Kale
Origin West Bromwich, England
Genres Electronic fusion, Indian classical, Indian folk, rock, hip hop, electronic dance, progressive global fusion, jazz
Occupation(s) Musician, record producer, songwriter, film composer, DJ
Instruments Tabla, electric tabla, drum kit, vocals, acoustic, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, electric bass, cello, santoor, string arranger, software and technology.
Years active 1994-present
Labels Six Degrees, Mighty Junn, EMI, Manhattan
Associated acts Realize Live, Tabla Beat Science, MPKK, Asian Massive, Breathing Under Water, Material, Conema Live, Timeline, Midival Punditz, Angaraag Mahanta (Papon)
Website www.karshkale.com

Karsh Kale (pronounced Kursh Kah-lay, कर्ष काळे in Marathi) is an Indian American musician, producer and composer, and is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music. In addition to production, remixing, and DJ work, Kale is known for his tabla drumming and film composition.[1]

Biography

Early life

Born as Utkarsha Kale on November 1, 1974 to Indian Marathi speaking immigrants in West Bromwich, England, Kale was raised in Brooklyn, New York after his parents relocated in 1977.[2] Kale took an interest in drums and eventually became a tabla player. Kale's father introduced Kale to a broad range of music, which included traditional Indian music, classical, rock, and even early hip-hop. From this broad range of influences, Kale, who was self-taught, developed his own style, which eventually led to his "electric tabla".[3]

Tabla Beat Science

In 2000, Bill Laswell founded Tabla Beat Science, inviting Kale, along with Zakir Hussain, Talvin Singh, Trilok Gurtu and Sultan Khan. Together, the group released Tala Matrix that year. The album is considered to be one of the most influential Asian Fusion albums to date,[2] and the group embarked on a tour, of which one of the shows was later released on DVD.[3]

Solo career

While a Music Production and Performance student at New York University, Kale began playing in bands and working as a session musician.[3] In 1999, Kale began work on his first EP, Classical Science Fiction from India and began hosting bi-weekly "Futureproof" events, which consisted of DJ and electric tabla sets.[4] These events attracted the attention of San Francisco label Six Degrees Records. Soon after, Kale became the first Indo-American to be signed to a solo recording contract in the United States, a move which was followed by Kale's first full-length album, Realize, in 2001.[3] Realize, often considered as a major milestone in what Kale called "Asian Massive",[5] was followed with 2002's Asian Massive Tour, which also featured Midival Punditz and Cheb i Sabbah, and 2003's Liberation. The album Liberation was completely musical rather than the usage of lyrics, though a few songs were with lyrics. The great artist Zakir Hussain also was featured in the album and in the major attraction of the album "Milan".[3]

Kale's third album, 2006's Broken English, was predominantly set to English lyrics, a shift from his previous albums. His follow-up Breathing Under Water, released in 2007, was the result of a two-year collaboration with sitar instrumentalist Anoushka Shankar.[3] In 2011, Kale released Cinema, which is influenced by Kale's experiences in composing for Bollywood. He also won GIMA Awards best fusion album for the same, beating A.R.Rahman.

Other work

Kale has composed for crossover and Bollywood films including Chutney Popcorn, Indian Cowboy, Ocean of Pearls, and Pyaar Impossible!. His tracks have also been featured in shows such as HBO's True Blood and Real Time with Bill Maher.[6] Two of his songs were included in as sample music in Windows Vista by Microsoft.[7]

Kale's songwriting credits include songs with Sting and Norah Jones,[1] and has remixed songs by artists including Paula Cole, Yoko Ono, and The Cure. Kale also worked with Midival Punditz on a rescoring of Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon.[3]

In 2012 Kale was one of an esteemed group of music producers selected to take part in MTV India's music incubation project: Coke Studio for its second season. Working with Indian artists including Monali Thakur, Benny Dayal, Apeksha Dandekar and more, he produced some of the series most innovative and well received tracks including[8] Glorious, Shedding Skin and a new twist on the 'Umrao Jaan' classic - Dil Cheez.

Discography

Albums

Solo albums

With Tabla Beat Science

EPs

With Dave Douglas

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hollywood Bowl. "About the Performer: Karsh Kale". Hollywoodbowl.com. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  2. 1 2 "Karsh Kale: Artist You Should Know". Blogs.kcrw.com. 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Biography". Last.fm. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  4. ↑ World Music Central.org. "Karsh Kale Biography". Worldmusiccentral.org. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  5. ↑ "Karsh Kale: Realize". Ethnotechno.com. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  6. ↑ "Resume".
  7. ↑ "Karsh Kale: Music With Echoes of India, America and Much, Much More". Kqed.org. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  8. ↑ http://www.cokestudioindia.com/season2/karsh-kale.html?WT.cl=1&WT.mn=Karsh%20Kale

External links

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