The Ajnabee’s Latest Discovery: Kutla Khan
I went to see British-Tamil singer Sushila Ramam at Southbank last night. The gig was part of Alchemy, a festival of Southasian music, dance and literature. Raman’s style is a blend of carnatic music, folk and jazz, what I guess would be called fusion music. Raman shared some *reinterpretations* of ancient Tamil hymns that she had been working on during a recent trip to India, which she delivered with much swaying, growling and some surprisingly sexual grinding. I can’t say I remember South Indian temple singing to be like that when I spent 4 months living in Tamil Nadu some 10 years ago, but it wasn’t the raunchiness I objected to but the fact that it just wasn’t very good. I’m all for experimentation, but this just felt more like confusion than fusion.
But enough of Sushila, the real star of the evening was Rajasthani percussionist/singer Kutla Khan, one of her support acts. He’s not only an incredible morchang (mouth harp) and khartal (southasian castanet) player, but also has a stunning voice, raw and soulful. Mesmerising to watch and listen to.
See youtube link here for Kutla Khan in action.
I think this song is something about delivering a message by pigeon (kabootar) to the beloved (sajana). I’ll be looking out for this guy in future.
