RBC desiFEST 2007 Artists

Zameer

Zameer is a Canadian rock band that has been voted among the top 10 performers in Toronto by the Emergenza International Music Showcase, and has also been nominated for the ‘Best Independent Artist’ award at the 2006 Toronto Independent Music Awards. The band has been profiled by Much Music, OMNI TV, Bridges TV, Desivibe TV, and CBC Radio. Articles about Zameer have been published by the Toronto Star, Metro News, Canadian Musician and Mississauga News.

Sri Sanskriti Dance Academy

Founded by Prabha Raghavan, Sri Sanskriti is an artistic journey to preserve, promote and propagate the classical Indian dance style, Bharata Natyam. It allows the studentsto express and explore their talents by imbibing the rich Indian values, traditions and its vibrant cultural heritage. The vision of Sri Sanskriti is to showcase traditional arts through dance recitals, cultural events and support of world class artists. Sri Sanskriti strives to create community awareness and provide a platform to train young children with a passion that will bring about absolute dedication and commitment to take traditional arts to the highest levels of achievement.

Trichy Sankaran

Maestro Trichy Sankaran is a virtuoso drummer whose mastery on the instruments mrdangam and kanjira is respected throughout the world. Since his debut at the age of 13, he has performed with all the leading musicians of India. Winner of gold medal in 1955, and the President’s award in 1958, Trichy Sankaran is one of the top ranking mrdangam artists of India today.

Shiamak

Shiamak’s Indo Jazz Dance Movement choreographed the Aspirin TV commercial and Jazzy B Music Video-Romeo in Toronto, where you notice Shiamak’s Indo Jazz students doing their best moves. The students from Shiamak’s Indo Jazz Dance Movement have also performed at various multi- cultural events and shows like the World Partnership walk, Kinderfest, Canada Day at Harbourfront, Ontario Liberal Funds, India Rainbow Community Services of Peel and The Canadian National Exhibition.

Tassa

Canadian indo/jazz group. Ravi Naimpally on tabla, Chris Gartner on bass, Alan Hetherington on percussion, Ernie Tollar on bansuri flute, and Dhruva Ghosh on sarangi.

Shahid Ali Khan & Qawali Group

Born in Lahore, Pakistan to a family of Qawwal masters and musicians, Shahid Ali Khan studied and performed with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, an established legend in Qawwali music, for over a decade.
With Shahid Ali Khan’s 1st CD release in Canada (November 2006), this self titled album is a celebration of Qawwali’s vibrant musical tradition that dates back over 700 years. The cyclical rhythms and tali (clap) combined with Shahid’s “incredible unearthly vocal range” result in an awe inspiring marriage of rapturous, spiritual poetry to mesmerizing singing and music. Shahid has also appeared on OMNI’s Television show Chardi Kalaa. He has sung on the show and has also been interviewed by he show host Sarabjeet Singh.

Monika Monga

Monika Monga is Kathak dancer living in Toronto, Ontario. Born in Africa, but raised in Canada, Monika became interested in Indian Classical dancing when still a child. With her mother’s encouragement, and during her early training, she fell in love with the art form of Kathak.

Roach

Roach was born in a small city called Sebha, in Libya which is in the heart of the Sahara desert. At the age of ten, him and his family were forced to migrate to Canada due to the country’s educational limits. At the age of 12, Roach was introduced to the life of urban music and from the first sounds of reggae, he fell in love with the culture which inspired him to become a reggae artist. At the early age of 14, Roach collaborated with producers from the Greater City of Toronto and released an underground Reggae album called “ROACHSTAFARIAN” of which he sold 6000 units across North America.
The New Album titled “ The Revolution” with its first single Yara Dildara dropping in Fall.

Josh

Having released three albums—‘Main Hoon Tanha,’ ‘Kabhi’ and most recently ‘Mausam’ in November 2006, JoSH’s songs have been chart-topping hits across the globe. ‘Kabhi’ remained in both Indian and MTV World Top 20 lists for 26 weeks from October 2004 to January 2005, and JoSH has collaborated with internationally-acclaimed artists Nelly Furtado, Rhythm Dhol Bass (RDB), and Rishi Rich on their various hit remixes. Last year, they performed at “Nokia’s New Year’s Eve” party in Mumbai, India alongside Grammy-winning Nelly Furtado, and JoSH welcomed in the New Year with Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, and Hrithik Roshan.

Priya

Delivered with conviction and compassion, her songs will rip through your heart as she sings every song with honesty and emotion. PRIYA’s sophisticated Pop/RnB style has been compared to great artists like Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Feist and Esthero. She has worked with artists like hip hop icon Moka Only (Battleaxe Records) and desi artist Channi (T-Series Record label). She has been showcased on Much-Music, Omni TV, Ishtyle TV, CBC Radio and been printed in many publications including the Toronto Star, Anokhi Vibe magazine, IStyle Magazine, Metro News and the India Times.

Friends of Raggas

A typical “FoRs” concert comprises of variety of short North Indian classical or semi-classical compositions and songs based on those compositions presented by various artists (friends). Songs presented are normally the popular numbers from hindi films and or selected from THE GEET, GAZAL & BHAJAN variety of indian music.

Kama Entertainment

With the demand for East Indian culture in both fashion and arts growing at a high pace, helping to provide, expand and facilitate opportunities while fulfilling these needs is Kama Entertainment’s mission.
Kama Entertainment teaches, organizes and showcases blended “Indian-Urban” choreography for many affairs, from corporate events to album launches to fashion shows. Combining rhythm with expression, each dance draws inspiration from stories depicting the life, ethics and beliefs of the Indian people.

Falak

Falak is an internationally acclaimed Canadian band based in the Toronto area. Falak’s massive fan following and media visibility is owed to having performed over a hundred live shows spanning North America and Pakistan. The recent independent release of our first EP ‘Standard Issue’ accompanied by a music video that saw heavy circulation in Pakistan has considerably added to the band’s momentum. Falak has played shows to audiences numbering in the thousands, including at Nathan Phillip’s Square and sharing the stage with Junoon, and has received steady media attention in Canada and elsewhere on CBC, CTV, ATN, the Toronto Star and Dawn among others.

dubslingers

Dubstep is the latest incarnation of the international electronica scene. It blends the heaviness of drum n bass, the depth and intelligence of minimal techno/industrial, with the smooth relentless swing of african dub/reggae. Dubslingers has made its home in Toronto with its first compilation release ready represent the Canadian dubstep scene. Of the few crews playing this unique sound (which is currently shaking the clubs of London, Amsterdam and Berlin), Dubslingers prides itself in being a sonic dojo for featuring and incubating the finest local BASS talent. They have prepared an all-original south asian flavoured set to move DesiFEST 2007 crowds into a sonic realm of indo-electronic fusion unlike anything ever heard before.

Deesha

Deesha began her love affair with music at a very young age. A creative soul from birth, Deesha garnered all of her musical energy to constantly pen lyrics while practicing songs and dance moves for her family. 2007 JUNO nominated Life Less Ordinary is a collection of songs revealing Deesha’s commercially appealing sound mixed with her natural born gift of ballads. Channeling the soul of R&B infused with her own magic, Deesha’s style is comparable to none.

Bollywood Fever

Sundar Viswanathan Raised in Sudbury with Tamil South Indian roots, Sundar Viswanathan is one of the most diversely-talented musicians in Toronto. Already known as a world-class saxophonist, Sundar’s profiles as a composer, multi-reed instrumentalist and vocalist have steadily increased of late. He has performed internationally with a who’s who of leading Indo-Canadian and American musicians & ensembles such as Rez Abbasi, Juno-winner Kiran Ahluwahlia, Autorickshaw, Ragaffaire, and Tasa; as well as with jazz legends such as Wynton Marsalis, Charles Tolliver, Sun Ra and Donald Byrd. Devika Mathur (pictured left) One of the finalists for Canadian Idol, Mumbai-born Devika Mathur has an exquisite voice that has been heard at concerts and on TV & radio across Canada and internationally. One of the final fifteen in Coke-Channel V Popstars in India, she entertained the city of Mumbai as a DJ on WIN94.6FM. She moved to Toronto just over a year ago and has already performed at many prestigious events, and is now rocking the airwaves as a DJ with a show called Radiovoice on Toronto multicultural radio station CMR 101.3 FM.

DJ Amita & Bollywood Grooves

Bollywood Grooves is a global dance company of choreographers, teachers, and performers committed to spreading the joy of Bollywood and Bhangra dance. Being a global company – they take a global approach to dance. BG’s Bollywood style is a mix of the groove from hip hop/street, grace from Indian classical, passion of Latin, spice of Middle Eastern, and fierceness of Bhangra dance all choreographed into one energetic routine. It is the home of ‘Bolly meets Belly’. They have worked with the BBC, MTV Europe, MTV America, Club Med, AMEX, TD Bank, and the Hummingbird Centre. BG dancers have performed on stage with Malika Aurora, Raghav, and Malkit Singh.

The Bliz

THE BILZ vision in production is to always create sounds that are one step ahead of the industry to maintain club and commercial record successes. The Duo consists of DJ VICIOUS and MASTER-D (a.k.a Subir Dev). They are two individuals who have gained a vast knowledge of the music industry in two different dimensions.

http://www.thebliz.com

http://www.myspace.com/thebilz313