Karsh Kale

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Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale performing in Bangalore in January 2009
Karsh Kale performing in Bangalore in January 2009
Background information
Birth nameUtkarsha Kale
Also known asKarsh Kale
OriginWest Bromwich, England
GenresElectronic, Indian classical, Indian folk, rock, hip hop, EDM, jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, film composer, DJ
InstrumentsTabla, electronic tabla, drums, vocals, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, bass guitar, cello, santoor, string arranger, software, technology.
Years active1994-present
LabelsSix Degrees, Mighty Junn, EMI, Manhattan
Associated actsRealize Live, Tabla Beat Science, MPKK, Asian Massive, Breathing Under Water, Material, Conema Live, Timeline, Midival Punditz, Angaraag Mahanta (Papon)
Websitewww.karshkale.com

Karsh Kale (pronounced Kursh Kah-lay, कर्ष काळे in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian musician born in England , record producer, singer, songwriter, film composer and DJ. He 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] Two of his songs, "Distance" and "One Step Beyond" were featured on the Windows Vista sound system.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Born as Utkarsh Kale on 1 November 1974 to Indian Marathi speaking immigrants in West Bromwich, UK, Kale was raised in Stony Brook, New York after his parents relocated in 1977.[2]

Kale took an interest in drums and eventually became a tabla player. His father introduced him 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]

1999 - 2011[]

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][5] Realize, often considered as a major milestone in what Kale called "Asian Massive",[6] was followed with 2002's Asian Massive Tour, which also featured Midival Punditz and Cheb i Sabbah, and 2003's Liberation. 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.[citation needed]

2012 - 2021[]

Kale made two appearances in the Indian cult classic television show The Dewarists. In the first one in Season 1 (2011), he produced a Tabla-Electronica track in his signature style, called "Sacred Science", with Baiju Dharmajan, and Njelarathu Harigovindan;[7] and a folk-rock ballad in Season 2 (2012), called "The Minstrel's Tale", with his long time collaborator Papon, and UK-Based Carl Barat of the Libertines.[8]

In 2012, Kale was invited to produce 6 songs for the second season of MTV India's music incubation project, Coke Studio @ MTV.[9] This episode met both popular and critical acclaim, especially for Kale's take on "Kajar Bin Kaare", a classic from his Tabla Beat Science times, done as a tribute to Ustad Sultan Khan.[10]

Kale also hosted the Season 2 of MTV Soundtrippin', alongside Nucleya in 2013 for MTV India.[11]

In January 2016, Kale released his fifth solo studio album, "Up" featuring collaborations from his group "Karsh Kale Collectiv".[12][13] The album features guitarist Blackstratblues/Warren Mendonsa, Kale's long time collaborator flautist Pandit Ajay Prasanna, and vocalists Papon, Benny Dayal, and Monali Thakur, amongst a host of other musicians.[14] Following the release, Kale also did an "Up Live Tour" to promote the album in India across several concerts, featuring visual effects by The Wolves.[15]

Followed by Up, Kale appeared in Red Bull Studio Science in 2017 [16] with a 20 minute talk about his song writing methods and his electric tabla,[17] and performed a live version of "Up",[18] and his own take on "Unkahi"[19] with the delhi based musician duo Shadow and Light, originally composed by Shadow and Light.

Kale covered "Mad about you" by Sting in 2017.[20]

2019 saw the release of "Infinity" – a 6 track EP which is the result of a collaboration between Kale, and Sarod virtuosos Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash.[21] The EP features Delhi based neo-classical duo Shadow and Light, and Sarod legend .[22]

In the same year, Kale also put out an ambient electronica EP called "Little Whale" with , and Gaurav Raina of the Midival Punditz[23] and an accompanying music video.;[24] and a single, "Disappear", with vocalist Tarana Marwah / Komorebi.[25]

Kale was also featured in U2's Eternal Remixes album (2019) for his version of "In the name of love / Pride" dubbed the 100 voices mix.[26] This song also features a music video, and re-penned lyrics that speak about the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.[27]

After 2020's single "Across the Ocean"[28] and its remixes in 2021,[29] Kale released his sixth solo studio album "Touch", released as two EPs, Touch: 1 and Touch: 2 in May and July 2021 respectively.[30] Entirely conceived and produced in the pandemic, this album sees Kale favour electronic arrangements and only a few collaborations, namely vocalist Malini Awasthi, guitarists Warren Mendonsa and Bhrigu Sahni, and flautist Pandit Ajay Prasanna. Kale described the Tabla to be the "spine" of all his tracks in the album.[31] The track "Fist of Fury", is Kale's return to his signature Tabla-heavy electronica tracks, that he has dubbed "Liquid Tabla".[32] A music video of the title track "Touch" was also released on YouTube in June 2021.[33][34]

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[35] and Real Time with Bill Maher.[36] Two of his songs were included in as sample music in Windows Vista by Microsoft.[37]

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 a 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 Warren Mendonsa, Monali Thakur, Benny Dayal, Apeksha Dandekar and more, he produced some of the series most innovative and well received tracks.[38]

Discography[]

Albums[]

Solo albums

Remix albums

  • Redesign: Realize Remixed (2002)

With Tabla Beat Science[]

  • Tala Matrix (2000)
  • Live at Stern Grove Palm Pictures (2003)
  • Talaman Soundclash, Live at the Filmore (2004)

EPs[]

  • Bright Like This (1999)
  • Classical Science Fiction from India (2000)
  • Play (1999)
  • Pause (1999)
  • Back Seat Lavni (1999)
  • Distance Remixes (2000)
  • Manifest Remixes EP (2007)
  • Beautiful Remixes EP (2007)
  • Coke Studio @ MTV Season 2 (2012)
  • Funkcronomic (2016) (with Bill Laswell and Bernie Worrell)
  • Little Whale (2019) (with Ankur Tewari, and Gaurav Raina of Midival Punditz)
  • Infinity (2019) (with Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)

With Dave Douglas

Films[]

Singles[]

  • "Distance" (2001)
  • "Liberation Remixes" (2003)
  • "Manifest (Kaushik Ambient Mix)" (2006)
  • "Manifest Remixes" (2006)
  • "Beautiful Remixes" (2007)
  • "Sacred Science" (2011) With The Dewarists Season 1, feat. Baiju Dharmajan and Njeralathu Harigovindan
  • "A Minstrel's Tale" (2012) With The Dewarists Season 2, feat. Papon and Carl Barat
  • "We All Fall" (2014)
  • "Up" (2015)
  • "Disappear" (2019)
  • "Across the Ocean" (2020)
  • "Across the Ocean Remixes" (2021)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Hollywood Bowl. "About the Performer: Karsh Kale". Hollywoodbowl.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Karsh Kale: Artist You Should Know". Blogs.kcrw.com. 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "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. ^ "CD REVIEWS: Eric's Trip, Corrosion Of Conformity, Arling & Cameron and many more". Chart Attack, August 07, 2001. Paul Gangadeen
  6. ^ "Karsh Kale: Realize". Ethnotechno.com. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLqxvf24a50&ab_channel=Dewar%27sIndia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOZnqzSVlwI&ab_channel=Dewar%27sIndia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsnwftjlW5o&list=PL07783F493EE94E9C&ab_channel=CokeStudioIndia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsnwftjlW5o&ab_channel=CokeStudioIndia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/karsh-kale-and-nucleya-to-host-mtv-sound-trippin/1161338/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://rollingstoneindia.com/karsh-kale-collectiv-%E2%80%A8to-release-debut-ep/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.whatshot.in/bangalore/karsh-kale-collective-will-give-us-a-dose-of-global-fusion-music-e-501731 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://open.spotify.com/album/30f4bIRZBaGq5TalJs6D2S?si=xZ1KvHK5Swub9qfqBkgNzw&dl_branch=1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.festivalsherpa.com/indias-premier-visual-duo-wolves-making-debut-glastonbury/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/06/studio-science-karsh-kale was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej_H3FgK45E&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=RedBullMusicAcademy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9Y6Q7FlMmg&ab_channel=KarshKale%E2%80%93ElectricTablaArchive was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9_Z5hN1sLE&ab_channel=KarshKale%E2%80%93ElectricTablaArchive was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://soundcloud.com/karshkale/karsh-kale-mad-about-you was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference http://www.radioandmusic.com/entertainment/editorial/news/190909-karan-johar-unveils-karsh-kale-amaan-and was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://boxofficeindia.co.in/karan-johar-launches-amaan-ali-bangash-ayaan-ali-bangash-and-karsh-kale%E2%80%99s-new-music-album-infinity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://visura.co/anjamatthes/news/whaler-little-whale-official-m was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvlZUUHR9Q&ab_channel=GR%CE%9BVITYSOUNDS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://rollingstoneindia.com/hear-karsh-kale-komorebi-conjure-digital-dreams-disappear/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/news/karsh-kale-and-amaal-mallik-are-honouring-u2-unique-spin-deets-inside-490722 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNrlOwNMNCw&ab_channel=KarshKale%E2%80%93ElectricTablaArchive was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/karsh-kale-across-the-ocean-single/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://open.spotify.com/album/0UQOHFFNsq0fylQDK7BitH was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://highonscore.com/karsh-kale-touch-1-score-indie-reviews/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rkJAoR1egQ&t=704s&ab_channel=Highonscore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etg465JMtdw&ab_channel=RadioCityIndie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4CkYGeytY4&ab_channel=KARSHKALE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://homegrown.co.in/article/805597/hgstreams-karsh-kale-s-powerful-piece-of-storytelling-on-women-s-emancipation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ "Karsh Kale - Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  36. ^ "Resume". IMDb.com. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  37. ^ "Karsh Kale: Music With Echoes of India, America and Much, Much More". Kqed.org. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  38. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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