The forward-looking fusions of Sheherazaad

Over the past few years a rich seam of US-based artists has emerged, drawing upon and creating innovative fusions of classical South Asian music. 

In 2022, singer Arooj Aftab won a Grammy for the single Mohabbat, a consummate blend of Sufi poetry and western folk instrumentation. Starting in 2013, sitar player Ami Dang has reimagined her chosen instrument across four albums, setting it against a backdrop of rumbling drones and ambient electronic textures. Earlier in 2024, the New York-born and south India-raised vocalist Ganavya released Like the Sky I’ve Been Too Quiet, an album on which the expansive freedom of spiritual jazz meets the rhythmic structure of traditional ragas. 

San Francisco-based singer Sheherazaad is among the latest to win widespread acclaim by imaginatively reinterpreting centuries-old South Asian musical forms. Her debut EP Qasr, released in March, combines flamenco guitars, plucked violins and double bass with warm Hindi and Urdu vocals to produce a genre-bending collection of wistful and subtly unsettling songs. 

Read the feature in Hyphen.

[This piece was published on 04/11/24]