Amsterdam » Calendar » Raj Mohan & Ensemble - Old Roots New Routes at Amstelkerk
Raj Mohan & Ensemble - Old Roots New Routes at Amstelkerk
Courtesy of Sonja Heimann | Posted on October 4, 2021
When
Sat, October 9, 2021
20:30
Save the date
Musicians
Raj Mohan
authorTammo Heikens
guitar, acousticMark Lotz
fluteSuresh Sardjoe
tablasMelanie Tangkau
bass, acousticAbout
Hindustani blues from the diaspora.
The story of Raj Mohan runs parallel to that of American blues that also arose from forced migration. As the great grandchild of Indian contract workers, he moved to the Netherlands from Suriname in 1974. He emerges as a charismatic singer-songwriter, who interprets the blues sung in Hindi, Urdu or Sarnami. In so doing, Mohan combines classical songs from North India (ghazals) with his own compositions. Beating heart of his performance is the hidden history of the ‘Kantraki’. Following the official abolition of Dutch slavery in 1863, between 1873 and 1916 the Netherlands shipped approximately 35,000 Indian contract workers to Suriname...