This spring’s Ragini Festival concludes with our Electro Folklore show- devoted to hybrids of electronic music, folkloric dreamscapes & traditional/folk South Asian traditions.
Opening the evening is artist Hasheel, who will be fusing his love for electronic and Hindustani music. His set will mix some of his favorite sounds with an invigorating bansuri-tabla jugalbandi.
Bandleader and tabla player Roshni Samlal crafts an improvisatory musical narrative that is equal parts a songbook of Indo-Caribbean mythos and dream memory and futurist reframing of the art of the traditional tabla solo. Presenting songs from the deep, personal waters of her Trinidadian childhood enmeshed within percussion-forward electronic beats, Roshni seeks to trace musical threads from the South Asian continental traditions of ghazal, thumri and Bhojpuri folk to their morphed pop and folk iterations across oceans of forgetting and remembering. Joining her will be vocalist, Shweta Pandya, sarangi player, Rohan Misra and oud player, Kane Mathis.
About the Artists:
Roshni Samlal is a New York-based Trinidadian tabla player who has studied within the Farrukhabad, Benares and Punjab gharanas or schools of classical percussion. She is a prolific local teacher and performer, both in traditional tabla solo and classical accompanist contexts as well as a variety of jazz and chamber ensembles. Roshni also explores creating sound design landscapes and beat production as a context for presenting tabla solos. She is the lead curator and producer of the Ragini Festival which focuses on spotlighting the work of artists engaged in traditional folk and innovative arts within the further reaches of the South Asian diaspora, focusing on Indo-Caribbean heritage.
Shweta Pandya is the founder of Sur Sangat LLC, an educational institution that focuses on the teaching and promoting of Indian classical arts and culture. As a teacher at Sur Sangat, she currently teaches both Hindustani vocal and instrumental music to students of all ages.
Rohan Misra is a promising young musician, specializing in the unique Indian bowed instrument called the Sarangi (translation: An instrument with a hundred colors). As the son and disciple of great Sarangi virtuoso Pandit Ramesh Misra, Rohan has inherited many of his father-Guru’s specialties, including tonal quality and aesthetic approach.
Kane Mathis performs on the 21-string Mandinka Harp and the Turkish Oud, Kane Mathis rendering compelling interpretations of these traditional musics. Years of study with generous masters have given Kane a rare opportunity to share these traditions with other cultures. Kane began taking trips to The Gambia, West Africa in 1997 and has continued rigorous study of the Mandinka Kora. Over the past ten years his performances have earned him recognition by the Gambian president, The Gambian minister of culture, and both national television and radio of The Gambia.
Hasheel is a queer Hindustani Classical Artist, trained in vocals as well as the bansuri. He has been learning music since the age of five under his father. He also started playing the bansuri under the guidance of his first teacher Shri Jeetu Sharma. Hasheel is currently a senior student of the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Ajay Pohankar. Inspired by Indian bridalwear, Hasheel pushes gender fashion norms that exist in and outside of India. His music mixes hip-hop, electronica, R&B, and Bollywood with a steady undertone of traditional Indian Classical.
