Product Code Database
Talvin Singh (born 1970) is a British musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating a fusion of Indian classical music with drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica subgenre called Asian Underground, and more recently as Indian and/or Asian electronica.
After collaborating with Siouxsie and the Banshees and Björk in the early 1990s, Singh released his debut album Ok (1998), which received the Mercury Prize in 1999.Finn, Gary. Mercury prize for Talvin Singh The Independent. 8 September 1999
Singh has since collaborated with a variety of acts including Madonna and Massive Attack.
In late 1995, Singh founded the Anokha club night with promoter Sweety Kapoor at East London's Blue Note, where drum'n'bass DJs and South Asian punk bands went head to head with the amped-up sounds of his tabla and percussion. Producer and DJ State of Bengal (Sam Zaman) soon became the core of Anokha alongside Singh & Kapoor.
Singh and Zaman would make fresh tracks, cutting them on Vinyl press hours before the Monday Anokha sessions, where they would be showcased.
Guest spots by LTJ Bukem and others made Anokha a Monday-night hotspot in London, and Singh signed to Island for an Anokha compilation including several of his own productions. He worked as a remixer for Blondie on their "Maria" single".
In 1998, Singh released his solo debut album, Ok. The record was critically acclaimed and received the prestigious Mercury Prize in 1999. That same year, he also collaborated with David Sylvian. In 2000, he worked with Madonna for her album, Music.
Drawing inspiration from the classical Indian arts, Singh first came to prominence as a tabla percussionist in the 1980s London music scene. Whilst still in his mid-teens, Singh travelled to India to earn pupillage from Sangeet Acharya Avirbhav Verma, master tabla maestro of the Punjab school. This period left an unforgettable mark on the young artist and he has since continued to practice and perform the art form internationally. Singh's collaborations with Indian classical musicians include Ustad Sultan Khan, Rakesh Churasia, Ustad Imrat Khan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan amongst scores of others.
Singh also became involved in experimental music collaborations beginning in the late 1980s, working with Sun Ra and Courtney, which helped to popularise the burgeoning Asian underground sub-culture movement.
Singh is notable for reintroducing the concepts of Indian classical music to Western pop, dance and jazz genres in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Singh's solo album credits include critical and commercial successes Ok (1998)—which won the UK's two most prestigious music prizes, 'The South Bank Prize' and the Mercury Prize in 1999. Ok, his groundbreaking 1998 debut release, was recorded in Mumbai, Madras, Okinawa, New York and London, featuring contributions from Bill Laswell, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ustad Sultan Khan and the Madras Philharmonic Orchestra amongst others.
Singh has pursued several artistic ventures parallel to and in conjunction with his music career, including creating the seminal London club ANOKHA, performing at the Tate Gallery in London, creating a sound installation at the Frith Street Gallery in London and composing music for various experimental dance, theatre and film projects. In 1990, Singh conceived the Tablatronic, a hybrid electronic/analog tabla (drum) which uses a rare internal microphone system. However, in a 2017 interview, he said he "did not do fusion music" and disliked the way Indian musicians felt they had to do fusion music.Canton, Naomi. "'Indian musicians feel they have to do fusion to be hip'". The Times of India. 10 September 2017.
In 2010, Talvin Singh won an award at the UK Asian Music Awards (UK AMAs) for his "Commitment to Scene". He was awarded an OBE in the 2014 Birthday Honours.
|
|
