Indian mega-star Kailash Kher performs during the 26th Annual Twilight Dance Series at the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday, July 29, 2010.
There is no greater star in Indian popular music today than Kailash Kher, a revered singer whose prodigious vocal gifts and inspiring personality have made him a household name across the subcontinent. Kailash Kher’s meteoric rise from a humble upbringing outside of New Delhi to being appointed a judge for the 2008-09 season of Indian Idol is nothing less than remarkable. It is also a testament to the strength and appeal of what is undeniably one of the most unique voices in Indian music today.
There is no greater star in Indian popular music today than Kailash Kher, a revered singer whose prodigious vocal gifts and inspiring personality have made him a household name across the subcontinent. Kailash Kher’s meteoric rise from a humble upbringing outside of New Delhi to being appointed a judge for the 2008-09 season of Indian Idol is nothing less than remarkable. It is also a testament to the strength and appeal of what is undeniably one of the most unique voices in Indian music today.
While Kailash studied Classical Indian music in his early years, it was the traditional folk songs sung by his father that exerted the most influence on the young artist. In 2001, after a foray into the business world, Kailash left New Delhi for Mumbai, home to the highly competitive Bollywood film and music industry. Kailash’s first recording was an advertising jingle for a diamond company, made for the equivalent of $100. After recording a handful of jingles, the raw, earthy and soulful strength of his voice caught the attention of every production house and film composer in Mumbai. By 2004, Kailash had been catapulted to stardom, performing on some of the biggest hits in Bollywood. Kailash has been heard in over sixty soundtracks and near two hundred jingles.
After being introduced to brothers Naresh and Paresh Kamath, fixtures of the Indian rock and jazz scene, they formed Kailash Kher’s Kailasa, combining Kailash’s strong traditional folk sensibilities and lyrics that invoke Sufi-mystical dimensions with Naresh and Paresh’s more modern rock, electronic and funk influences. Kailasa can be heard to best advantage on their first American release, for the elite Cumbancha Records imprint. The superb “Yatra (Nomadic Souls)” features re-recorded and remixed classics alongside never released new material.
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