Johnny Kalsi is a
British IndianThe term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...
dholDhol can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent and nearby regions. Its range of distribution in India and Pakistan primarily includes northern areas such as the Assam Valley, Bengal, Gujarat,...
drum performer residing in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He rose to prominence as a former member of
Transglobal UndergroundTransglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...
and the founder of the
Dhol FoundationThe Dhol Foundation is both a dhol drum institute in London and a musical group playing bhangra music. The dhol school was founded in 1989 by former Alaap member Johnny Kalsi when several musicians asked him to be their teacher, and a first album was released by Kalsi and his students in 2001...
. He also performs with the
Afro Celt Sound SystemThe Afro Celt Sound System is a musical group which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African music...
and
The Imagined VillageThe Imagined Village is a folk musical project founded by Simon Emmerson of the Afro Celt Sound System. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represents modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, features musicians from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds...
.
Early life
Kalsi was born and raised in the
Punjab statePunjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
in
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. As a youth, he became increasingly interested in music, although his parents had other aspirations for him. They had hoped to see him move towards a profession in law or medicine as a lawyer or doctor. Kalsi was self-taught as a drummer when ho joined a school
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trio and they performed at school concerts and assembly hall meetings. His exposure to a variety of
genreGenre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s embraced both traditional Indian music and Western influences. His style became a blend of Eastern drum rhythms utilizing Western instruments. Kalsi redesigned the traditional
dholDhol can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent and nearby regions. Its range of distribution in India and Pakistan primarily includes northern areas such as the Assam Valley, Bengal, Gujarat,...
drum to his own personal specifications.
Merging the sound of bhangra into the World Music organisation.
In 1986, after leaving school, Kalsi joined a
bhangra band called Alaap, and assumed the role of lead percussionist and dhol player for the band, where he developed his own playing style and learned management skills necessary for a successful band. In 1995, Kalsi joined an emerging
world musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
organization founded by
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, based at
Real World StudiosReal World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...
in
Box, WiltshireBox is a village located in Wiltshire, England, about east of Bath and west of Chippenham. It is quite a large parish with several settlements, apart from the village of Box, within its boundaries....
, England. That connection served as a springboard for his career and exposed his talent to a global audience.
The rise of the Dhol Foundation
WOMADWOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.-History:...
festivals around the world soon appreciated the musical talents of The Dhol Foundation and provided many opportuniies to reach a broader audience. Kalsi progressed to improve his skills with the dhol. While performing at ceremonial weddings, Kalsi was encouraged to teach his techniques to others. He became the first dhol player to perform live with
DJA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s, which appealed to younger audiences.
Kalsi's first dhol classes in Britain took place in 1989. No one had previously taught dhol as an
ensembleA musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
instrument. Kalsi self funded his first tutorial classes in
SloughSlough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
, England in 1990.
During 1991 he assembled lead drummers to perform in local charity events. 1994 saw his exposure to non Asian worldwide audiences. In 1995 he progressed on the instrument while performing with more non-Asian bands. By 1996 he began to assist other artists and began collaborating on their album productions.
Kalsi worked as a
session musicianSession musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for two bands:
FundamentalFundamental may refer to:* Foundation of reality* Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental"...
and
Transglobal UndergroundTransglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...
during the early 1990s. This period also provided European audiences with exposure to individual traditional music artists such as
Miguel BoséMiguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...
from Spain. Kalsi joined the biggest new world muaic band called
Afro Celt Sound SystemThe Afro Celt Sound System is a musical group which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African music...
. During 1997, Kalsi was touring with Fundamental performing at WOMAD festivals all over the World.
Kalsi took on the role of a
sidemanA sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
in addition to session work, and performed with the Afro Celt Sound System on their second album,
ReleaseVolume 2: Release is Afro Celt Sound System's second album, Released on January 25, 1999 by Real World Records.-Track listing:# "Release" – 7:36# "Lovers of Light" – 3:58# "Éireann" – 5:09# "Urban Aire" – 2:08# "Big Cat" – 7:43...
, which also featured
Sinéad O'ConnorSinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
. During the time he was with
Transglobal undergroundTransglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...
Kalsi and The Dhol Foundation provided support in a European tour of the famed
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ians Page & Plant, (both formerly of
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
).
Recording artist to producer
In 1999 Kalsi's drumming troupe, The Dhol Foundation recorded their first album. The album was recorded live at performances around the world, absorbing the differing musical influences of bands they toured with, and contributed to their sound.
Big Drum Small WorldBig Drum Small World is the first studio album from Johnny Kalsi and his students from the Dhol Foundation institute in London. It was released in 2001 by Shakti Records and produced by Johnny Kalsi.-Track listing:# "Eik Din"# "Eik Din II"# "Iridian"...
, featuring a large photo of Kalsi on the
album coverAn album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
, was released on
Shakti RecordsNarada is a record label formed 1983 as an independent New Age music label and distributed by MCA Records. Now a fully owned subsidiary of EMI, Narada evolved through an expansion of formats to include music from other styles including world music, jazz, Celtic music, new flamenco, acoustic guitar...
in 2001. The album received positive mention from critics.
Kalsi drew upon his experience as a session player and his understanding of ethnic and western instrumentsto work as
producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
for the album. Shortly after the recording had begun, he received an offer from
film producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
David ArnoldDavid Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...
, playing on a
soundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the first time on a
BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
Movie,
Tomorrow Never DiesTomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
.
Film scores
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's label,
Real World RecordsReal World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
, recorded Kalsi's first album in 2002.
Martin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's movie,
Gangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
featured one the Big Drum songs along with music from the Afro Celt Sound System and
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, to use on the movie soundtrack. It was a big opportunity for the Dhol Foundation in Hollywood films, but were quickly followed by more performances and compositions, including music for a scene in
The Incredible Hulk. Eleven ISDN links were used from the
Air StudiosAssociated Independent Recording , an independent recording company, was founded in London in 1965 by Beatles producer George Martin and his partner John Burgess after their departure from EMI....
in London to form an audiovisual link a film studio in San Francisco. While watching the film studio action on a huge plasma screen, the band were also able to monitor the reaction of
Ang LeeAng Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
the film director, via
WebcamA webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
link from San Francisco on another smaller screen, as he in turn watched them performing live in the sound recording studio.
Charitable works
Towards the end of 2002 Kalsi worked with the teenage
popPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer
Avril LavigneAvril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
, when she recorded a cover of
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "
Knockin' on Heaven's Door"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.-Story line and song structure:...
". It was sung by Lavigne at a
War Child Charity ConcertWar Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK 1993, which focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict. They use their film and entertainment background to raise money for aid agencies operating in former Yugoslavia...
covered by
MTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Kalsi was selected to give the track an
ethnic IndianA Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...
feel and add some light percussion. Another charity organisation that Kalsi and The Dhol Foundation perform for is the London Parade, an organization that raises money globally for
SCOPEThe Spastics Society of India is India’s most noted non-profit and a Non-governmental organization , working for Neuro-Muscular and Developmental Disabilities...
, a charity for people with
Multiple SclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
.
Work with other artists
- Alaap
- Malkit Singh
Malkit Singh MBE born in 1962 in village Hussainpur, Jalandhar, and raised in Nakodar, Jalandhar, Punjab. He is a famous foreign based Punjabi bhangra singer. Malkit Singh has become the first Punjabi singer to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London with the award of...
- Balvinder Safri
- DCS
-Education:*Dade Christian School A private school in Miami-Dade county*Dayton City School, a school in Dayton Tennessee*Dean Close School*Dearborn Christian School A private school in Dearborn, Michigan*Desert Christian Schools, in Tucson, Arizona...
- Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...
- Fun^Da^Mental
- Trans-Global Underground
- Natacha Atlas
Natacha Atlas is a Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western electronic music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "cha'abi moderne" . Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum 'n' bass and reggae.Atlas began her career as part of...
- Afro Celt Sound System
The Afro Celt Sound System is a musical group which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African music...
- Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
- Michael McGoldrick
Michael McGoldrick is a flute and tin whistle player. He also plays the Uilleann pipes and low whistle. He is well known for his ability to skate switch and regular with the same level of ability.-Bands:...
- Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBE is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo percussionist in 20th-century western society.-Early life:Glennie was born and raised in Aberdeenshire...
- Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
- Simon Emmerson
For the experimental music artist, see Simon Emmerson .Simon Emmerson is a Grammy Award-nominated record producer, guitarist, DJ and founder of the group Afro Celt Sound System....
- James McNally
James McNally is a musician, composer and Grammy nominated producer of the band Afro Celt Sound System. He was previously a member of the The Pogues, Storm , and Dingle Spike.James was born in London to Irish Parents...
- Oi Va Voi
Oi Va Voi is a British band that takes its name from a Yiddish-derived exclamation popular in modern Hebrew meaning, approximately, "Oh, dear!" It is an experimental band from London, England, which formed in the late 1990s...
- Miguel Bosé
Miguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...
- Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
& Jimmy PageJames Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
- David Arnold
David Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...
- Michael Danna
- Sumeet Chopra
- Apache Indian
- Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
- Patty Boulett
- Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...
- Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
- Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
- 17 Hippies
17 Hippies is a band from Berlin, Germany, playing largely on acoustic instruments. Their music is a confection of various folk influences. They are most popular in their native Germany and France.-History:...
- Tigerstyle
Tigerstyle are a Scottish bhangra group from Glasgow from a British Punjabi background. They are made up of two brothers, Raj and Pops, trained in classical tabla, gurmat sangeet and various forms of Punjabi folk music and instrumentation...
- Punjabi By Nature
Punjabi by Nature was a seven piece bhangra band founded in Toronto in 1993.. They were nominated for a 1996 Juno Award in the Best Global Album category for their album Jmpn For Joy....
Discography (selected)
- Big Drum Small World
Big Drum Small World is the first studio album from Johnny Kalsi and his students from the Dhol Foundation institute in London. It was released in 2001 by Shakti Records and produced by Johnny Kalsi.-Track listing:# "Eik Din"# "Eik Din II"# "Iridian"...
- Drum-Believable
Drum-Believable is the second album released by Johnny Kalsi's Dhol Foundation. It was released in 2005 by Shakti Records, and features special guests including Máiréad Nesbitt on fiddle, Ustad Sultan Khan on vocals and sarangi, Sonia Panesar and Bee2 on vocals, and Transglobal Underground as...
- Drums 'n' Roses
External links