Currently located in Northern California, Sukhawat Ali performs with his band "Dua" (Prayer in Urdu) at venues in SF Bay Area Sukhawat Ali Khan is a singer from the Sham Chaurasi Gharana
(family) of Music that has been performing traditional Hindustani (North Indian
Classical) Music for over six centuries. Trained at a young age by his legendary father - the Late Ustad Salamat
Ali Khan, Sukhawat A
li has perfected the art of soulful Sufi singing. His universal themes of peace and compassion appeal to audiences
from around the world. Ali Khan considers music to be a sacred
experience that unites the performer with the listener. Sukhawat Ali collaborates with a wide variety of musicians – from DJ Cheb-I-Sabbah and composer James Newton Howard
to popular World Music bands such as Baraka Moon and Yuval Ron. On his latest offering, Laaj, he comes together with the Master Bansuri player Deepak Ram to weave a magical tapestry of Indian folk music. Sukhawat Ali has toured and performed in England, France, Holland, India and Sri Lanka. In the US, he has performed at Columbia University, The Asian Society of New York, and The Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. Musical Styles
Sukhawat Ali’s soulful singing is rooted in devotional music that has been handed down from generation to generation for over six centuries. His ancestors were Royal Musicians in the Court of The Great Mughal Emperor Akbar. The Sham Chaurasi Gharana (family) excels in their Mastery and improvisational skills of performing Sufi music through traditional Hindustani Classical forms such as Qawwalis. Qawwalis are high-energy musical gatherings in a passionate style
made popular by the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Sukhawat Ali stepped into this tradition at a young age when he started touring with his father - the late Ustad Salamat Ali Khan. After an early and thorough exposure to Sufi roots and Hindustani classical music, Sukhawat Ali migrated to the United States in his late twenties. He gracefully embraced Western musical tradition and blended it skillfully with his Indian Classical background. In keeping with his family's long tradition of musical innovation, Sukhawat has mastered five traditional styles of Indian
music:
• Hindustani Classical (including ragas)
• Sufi Qawwali (devotional, spiritual, not of a particular religious origin)
• Punjabi Folk & Bhangra (upbeat, celebratory, dance music)
• Geet (romantic, dance style)
• Ghazal (sonnets, ballads, lyrical laments)
Throughout all of his styles his unique signature fused with music of the west is ever present, breathing new life into even the oldest of traditions. Previous venues and audiences:
Sukhawat Ali Khan has played at many notable venues with the Ali Khan Band, Shabaz, Baraca Moon, Yuval Ron Ensemble
and other World Music Performers. He has also opened for Jane’s Addiction and Ben Harper.
• Berkeley World Music Festival
• Montreal Jazz Festival
• Nice World Music Festival, Nice France
• Brooklyn Jazz Festival in Prospect Park, Brooklyn New York
• World Music Festival in Los Angeles
• Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Booneville, California
• Harmony Festival, Sonoma County, California
• State of the World Forum invitations (founded by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev). Collaboration and Musical Friends:
Sukhawat Ali Khan has collaborated with and lent his unique vocal styles to a wide variety of musicians including:
• Deepak Ram, Bansuri Master (South Africa and Washington DC)
• Dr. Das, Founder of the Dub Foundation (London, UK)
• Janaka Siekta, Founder of Dhamaal Sound System (San Francisco, CA)
• Stephen Kent, KPFA Radio World Music in (Berkeley, CA)
• Yuval Ron Ensemble
• Robert Powell
• DJ Chab -I- Sabah
• Joshua Selzer, John Lennon Music Award first-prize winning song
• James Newton Howard, Soundtrack of the Disney movie ‘Hidalgo’
• Yuval Ron Ensemble
Discography
Laaj – 2013 Casa Ganesh Records (with Deepak Ram)
Shukriya - 2007 (solo and with his Shukriya ensemble)
Shabaz - 2001 (with Shabaz)
Zindagi - 2000 (with the Ali Khan Band)
Taswir - 1998 (with the Ali Khan Band)
