A bright red turban, tied up in the traditional Jaisalmeri fashion is a reflection of his persona, pat down to his infectious smile. The colour red signifies happiness, the luminous effect of the fire of life. Scheduled to perform at Big Gig Exclusive at Landour, Mussoorie on April 19 (read here), Mame Khan’s fans can get to relive the experience of listening to his powerful voice again, post his mesmerising performance at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
A member of the Manganiyar community, Mame Khan belongs to the land of sand dunes – Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, and comes from a long, illustrious lineage of singers all entrenched in the Manganiyari singing tradition. His family can trace their lineage back to fifteen generations of performers, who have been singing folk and Sufi songs in that tradition. The Manganiyar community is known for being a travelling community of musicians, and the preservers of oral narratives, with their songs traversing through the wide expanse of variety from singing about Alexander the Great (who came to conquer the north-west part of India and Pakistan around 300 BC) to local kings and songs woven around community events.
Mame was indoctrinated into the singing tradition from an early age, and his talent for it was spotted early on as well, so much so that by the time he was 14, he had already got a scholarship from Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).
At the Big Gig Exclusive Mussoorie , Mame Khan will be performing with a troupe of eight folk musicians from Jaisalmer and Jaipur, and they call themselves the Mame Khan Manganiyar. The audience of Big Gig Exclusive Mussoorie will be privy to their performance, one of the major attractions of this Himalayan music festival where they debut. Mame Khan sings folk and sufi songs rendered by Pakistani and Rajasthani sufi proponents such as Mira Bai, Kabir, Lal Shahbaz Kalandar, Bulleh Shah and Baba Ghulam Farid, while giving them a touch and rendition of his own. He has toured all over the world, from Africa, the Americas to the Middle East and Europe. Mame Khan is ever open-minded about new collaborations and ventures, and has even lent his voice to some beautiful Bollywood ballads, from No One Killed Jessica, Luck By Chance, to I Am. He collaborated with Amit Trivedi to come up with the following song – (click here). Catch Mame Khan Manganiyar at Big Gig Exclusive, an indie music festival tailor-made for acoustic, indie and folk music lovers.
To watch soundplunge_test roobaroo with Mame Khan, see his rendition of “Lolee”, a song based on a Sufi saint, who brings back a dead child to life. For more information and details on Big Gig Exclusive Mussoorie , click here. To read about the other artists performing at the festival, click here. Book your tickets online here, and for enquiries, email them@ biggigfest@gmail.com or call at +91-135-2635604 / 05 / 06.
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