Kabir (also Kabira)  (1440—1518) was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes from Arabic Al-Kabir which means ‘The Great’ – the 37th Name of God in the Qur’an.

Exciting news from Mumbai with the unfolding of the KABIR FESTIVAL, a 10 day extravaganza of Mystic Music, Poetry, Film and Arts running from January 14th to January 23rd.  The Kabir festival follows on from The Kabir Project (www.kabirproject.org) which wa founded by Shabnam Virmani, a documentary film maker who spent 6 years travelling with folk singers who sing the mystic songs of Kabir.  This festival is something of a showcase of  those travels and the films, music and booksthat were produced as a result.

The Kabir project is a 6-year initiative undertaken by filmmaker Shabnam Virmani as an artist-in-residency project at Srishti. It brings together the experiences of a series of journeys exploring how this 15th century mystic weaver poet lives in diverse social, political, religious and spiritual spaces in India (and Pakistan). The core inspiration of the project is music, and Kabir comes alive in documentary films, 2 folk music videos and 10 music CDs and poetry books through the power of song.

The films (Had-Anhad: Journeys with Ram & Kabir, Koi Sunta Hai: Journeys with Kumar & Kabir, Chalo Hamara Des:  Journeys with Kabir & Friends are interwoven in significant ways, but each can be viewed independently

The extraordinary line up of traditional talent will display the enormous variety of this spiritual, mystic lineage in all its gracious beauty.  All programs are free to attend on a first-come first-served basis.  It is a delight to know such events are taking place to introduce the Youth of India to their cultural and spiritual heritage in such a way and we wish the organisers well on their quest to uphold and maintain the connections to this tradition.  This is the first Kabir festival in Mumbai and we look forward to its establishment as an annual celebration of one of the Greatest Mystic Poets India has ever known.

Please visit the excellent websites for more info about this enchanting festival:-

Official Site

www.thekabirfest.com

Blog

www.kabirfestivalmumbai.wordpress.com

Kabir Project

www.kabirproject.org

Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale.

Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale.
From what land do you come, O Swan? to what shore will you fly?
Where would you take your rest, O Swan, and what do you seek?

Even this morning, O Swan, awake, arise, follow me!
There is a land where no doubt nor sorrow have rule: where the terror of Death is no more.
There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent ‘He is I’ is borne on the wind:
There the bee of the heart is deeply immersed, and desires no other joy.

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Sain Zahoor and band in concert

Mystic music from Pakistan with Sain Zahoor.  Traditional magical melodies and spiritual and religious verses blend and weave a beautiful insight into the devotional musical traditions.

The University of Bradford is delighted to welcome back the transcendent and genuinely awe-inspiring music of Sain Zahoor and band, following the sell-out success of their concert in the University Atrium in June 2008. Sain Zahoor is a phenomenon. Winner of the 2006 BBC  World Music Voice of the Year Award without ever having released a record, Sain’s music emanates from the Sufi tradition and was honed singing in dargagh (shrines) and mela in his native Ojara district of Pakistan.  Since then Sain has travelled the world offering audiences the opportunity to come; the closest anyone alive will get to being in the presence of the Sufi mystics of yore, like Bulle Shah and Shah Hussain.

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Where :  University of Bradford Atrium

When : Friday 11 June, 7.30pm.

Price : Tickets £7

More Information: 01274 233200 or theatre@bradford.ac.uk

We are delighted to share news of our good friend and fellow musician Tinoush Bahrami featuring at this Traditional Persian Music concert.  The Magham Ensemble will see Tar, Setar, Oud, Percussion and Vocal playing together in this rare opportunity to enjoy Persian music.  Magham Ensemble concentrates on Iranian regional and magham music, and not the Dastgah and Radif system.

Highly Recommended musical magic which will see all benefits from the program going to a very good cause.  Unfortunately the concert is only open to students and University staff, however a guest can accompany a student or staff member of The University of Manchester.  So…. it’s time to befriend a student at Manchester University!

Read more

The eminent Indian Music and arts organisation, Darbar, have just announced their line up for this years impressive Darbar festival.

The festival encompasses North and South Indian music traditions, along with film exhibitions, free workshops and a chance to meet and discuss with some of the artists.

A veritable feast of Classical Indian Musicians will resonate their marvellous music in the city of London for the main body of the events, from 1st – 4th April 2010.  No doubt the city is blessed to have such a dazzling array of stars in its midst and I heartily encourage anyone with an interest in the magic of music to attend any of these excellent performances.

With such esteemed heavyweight musicians such as as Shiv Kumar Sharma (Santoor), Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla) and the Gundecha Brothers (Dhrupad Vocal) the line up is drenched in promise.  Lesser know but no less talented appearances from artists such as the Canartic vocal duo Ranjani & Gayatri are sure to captivate British audiences and leave them spellbound.  The magical tones of Kaushal Das on Sitar are also sure to delight the listener and reveal nuances of music that will illuminate and enthrall.  I have blogged many times about the great Indian Classical Music festivals such as Dover Lane Conference in Kolkata or Dhrupad Mela in Varanasi, but this really is the closet thing we are going to get this side of the Indian Ocean.

The line-up is listed here with more details below:-

Festival elements…

Carnatic vocal and instrumental | North Indian Hindustani vocal | Dhrupad | Western Operatic | Free Workshops | Audience with the artists | Films | Mini-concerts | Concerts throughout the day

The line-up…

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma | Patricia Rozario | Veena Sahasrabuddhe | Rohan de Saram | Dhruba Ghosh | Bhupinder Chaggar | Hari Sivanesan | T Pirashanna | Kousic Sen | Satyajit Talwalkar | Dharambir Singh | Sunil Kant Gupta | Shahbaz Hussain | Ranjani and Gayatri | Jyotsna Srikanth | H. S. Sudhindra | Sanju Sahai | Kushal Das | Pandit Anindo Chatterjee | Ravi Shankar Upadhay | A K Palanivel | Rajhesh Vaidhya | Arun Prakash | Anirudh Athreya | Pandit Venkatesh Kumar | Soumik Datta | Neyveli Venkatesh | Gundecha Brothers

The instruments…

Santoor | Sitar | Veena | Tanpura | Tabla | Mridangam | Pakhawaj | Cello | Sarod | Basuri (Indian flute) | Harmonium | Kanjira | Tavil

Early bird tickets are available, meaning that if you book before 28th February 2010, you pay less!  So get your tickets now and Book Online!

When:- Thursday, 01 April 2010 @ 18:00 till Sunday, 04 April at 22:00

Where:-Kings Place
90 York Way
Kings Cross
London
UK

www.darbar.org.uk

Darbar on Facebook

A taste of last years festival, much of which was recorded and broadcast by SKY arts channel.