Cassius Khan (born June 7, 1974), is an Indian classical musician known for playing the tabla and Ghazal while singing.
Contents |
In Vancouver, Khan met Mushtari Begum, a Ghazal singer, Sheikh Mohyudean, a harmonium / Qawaali singer, and Ustad Rukhsar Ali, a tabla player. He subsequently began lessons with these musicians and would later combine his musical disciplines. Khan mastered the ability to sing Ghazal and play the tabla simultaneously which garnered him attention in the Indian classical music world. Khan's repertoire also include the Tarrannum Gayaki while playing the tabla.
Khan's early career met with limited success after the recording and international tour of his first album "Cassius Khan-The Young Tabla/Ghazal Wizard." Khan states because of his young age he was taken advantage of by his manager and did not secure the rights to his albums or financial gains.
He would continue on to college and university to earn a BA and had thoughts of pursuing a career in law. Ultimately he decided to stick to music. He toured the folk festival scene in North America, South Pacific, Europe and South America soloing and collaborating with artists of various genres from around the world as both a tabla player and vocalist.
In 2001, Khan composed "Asia Music" for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics under the guidance of composer Jan Randall. The piece he composed gained him international recognition as a composer.
Khan's second album was with the late Darcy Greaves called "Angel of Sevilla" (1995). Following recordings included "I Feel Love Again" (2002) with Pavlo, "Mani Licks" (2002) with Dan Mani, "A Demon's Dream" (2002) with Dave Martone, and "The Alchemists" (2002) with Dave Martone. In 2005, Khan was invited to perform Ghazal and a tabla solo recital at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as part of Alberta Scene. Khan was invited by the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival to present his first classical Ghazal and tabla recital concert in 2006.
In 2008, Khan was also among few selected out of 8,000 applicants to showcase Ghazal/Tabla at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas in 2008. That same year he was invited to perform at the Juno Awards in Calgary. The following year Khan was a featured artist for the Canadian Music Week. Khan's recordings were also selected for the Japan Trade Mission in 2009.
In later 2009, Khan fired his representation, "The Yarlowe Artist Group" on the grounds of theft, fraud and career jeopardization.
Khan's newest Ghazal album "Mushtari, a live concert" released in 2010, was nominated for World album of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA) and was a tribute to his guru and teacher, the late Mushtari Begum, with a selection of choice classical Ghazals and a tabla solo recital. Khan has also released a tabla solo single titled "Sparks Of Energy" in 2011.
Other selected collaborations include "Dark Clouds" (2006) with jazz pianist Stu Goldberg and "Soundcurrent" with Kelly Dean and Franny Kumar. Khan collaborated with slide guitarist Ellen McIlwaine to record "Mystic Bridge" in which Khan and McIlwaine were invited to Juno Fest to perform numbers from the album.
Khan has also accompanied Mohan Veena, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Majid Qiyam, Ustad Aashish Khan Debsharma, Maihar Gharana, Sashi Roy, and is working on a classical Indian duo with Satvick Veena exponent Salil Bhatt.
Khan was awarded the Salute to Excellence Award by the City of Edmonton for his work in Indian classical music.
Khan was born in Lautoka, Fiji, to Muslim parents, Naimatullah and Razia Khan. He has one brother and one sister. His family moved to Canada in 1974 for 9 years to return to Fiji for a short stint of 3 years and later returned to Canada in 1987.
Khan is also an avid Mercedes Benz diesel enthusiast, and has owned a number of the 300D models. His trademark Mercedes is a 1976 115 300D. Mercedes Benz had offered to sponsor Khan's concert career.
Khan lives in New Westminster, British Columbia. He is married to Kathak dancer Amika Kushwaha in 2006. She is also a harmonium player who accompanies Khan in his Ghazal/tabla concerts.