Ricky Kej is an internationally renowned Indian music composer, environmentalist and professor. Kej has dedicated his life and music to creating awareness on the environment, and positive social impact. A Grammy winner and US Billboard #1 artist, he has performed at prestigious venues in over 30 countries, including at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and Geneva. His past repertoire of work includes 21 studio albums released internationally, over 3500 commercials and 4 feature films, including the natural history documentary Wild Karnataka narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
During his musical career, Kej has associated and collaborated with artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Peter Gabriel, Stewart Copeland (The Police), Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary), Soweto Gospel Choir, Philip Lawrence (Bruno Mars), Roger Waters, and Shankar Mahadevan. He has numerous awards to his credit, such as the United Nations Global Humanitarian Artist award, the Global Indian Music Award and Mirchi Music Awards (India).
Gautam Das Baul is a member of a mystic music tradition that dates back several centuries. Primarily located in the regions of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, the Bauls belong to an unorthodox devotional tradition, influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Bengali, Vasinavism and Sufi Islam, yet distinctly different from them. A nonconformist sect having gurus (mentors) but no dogmas, rituals, religious institutions or scriptures, the Bauls define their path to God or spirituality through their music and poetry. "In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The Bauls of Bengal have kept their philosophies alive for many centuries, but modern demands threaten their simple, enlightened lifestyles."
Hai Phuong plays a traditional single-stringed Vietnamese instrument called the dan bau. While the earliest written records of the dan bau date its origin to 1770, scholars estimate its age to be up to one thousand years older than that. A popular legend of its beginning tells of a blind woman playing it in the market to earn a living for her family while her husband was at war. Whether this tale is true or not, the fact remains that the dan bau has historically been played by blind musicians. Until recent times, its soft volume limited the musical contexts in which it could be used. Though with changing technologies, its sound can be amplified and used in newer contexts today.
Jim Kino West is recognised as one of the world’s top ‘slack key’ guitarists and brings his own unique musical perspective to this great acoustic guitar tradition.
In 1985, after a long summer on the road with musical satirist ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, West made his first trip to Hana, Maui and fell in love with the cultural and physical landscape of Hawai’i, sometimes spending a couple months, and even a year there. It was there that he also discovered ki ho ‘elu or as it is more commonly called, the ‘slack key’ guitar. This is an old Hawaiian style of playing where the strings are loosened or ‘slacked’ to different tunings, allowing the bass, chords and melody to be played simultaneously.
West was already a fan of playing in altered, non- standard tunings, and quickly fell in love with the gentle spirit of slack key and the great sense of discovery that comes with exploring new tunings. Instead of concentrating on learning the standard riffs and songs he developed his own slack key vocabulary, which now defines his very unique approach to this great tradition.
Lonnie Park is a vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, engineer, producer, Grammy® nominee, and plays a wide variety of instruments. Along with his solo career, and various collaborations, Park is the lead singer of the band ‘Ten Man Push’. Park has also produced commissioned music for causes such as Autism Works, Autism Movement, Puzzle Solvers.
A fourth generation Yakshagana artiste, Shridhar Hegde Keremane is at the forefront of this art form when it comes to the younger generation. Yakshagana is an artform that evolved through storytelling and incorporates several performance elements including elaborate costumes, music, dance and theatre. The torchbearer of this celebrated tradition and a Kathak dancer, Hegde hails from Sri Idagunji Managanapati Yakshagana Mandali, a troupe set up in 1934 in the coastal village of Keremane in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district. Carrying the form forward into modern times, Hegde works towards popularising it among people around the world who would not normally have the opportunity to experience it.
The tribal farmers of Araku valley practice ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’, a unique best-practice model of climate-resilient agriculture that enhances farmer’s welfare by eliminating synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, replacing them instead with ecologically sustainable, cheaper natural substitutes.
These tribal farmers are also musicians, singing songs that have been passed down from generations. Songs of labour form a major part of the range of folk music, especially in South India, as a natural outcome of work situations – and are often in sync with the inbuilt rhythms of the work such as sowing, picking, harvesting, grinding and so on.
The music of the farmers of Araku Valley presented here, thematically speaks of the natural world and our coexistence. This is only appropriate to a community who not only share an intimate relationship with the soil for their livelihood but also a sustainable one.
