Lakha Khan, a Sindhi sarangi maestro from Rajasthan's Manganiyar community is the highlight of the next edition of the "Moonlit Summer Evening" by Delhi-based group Friends of Music.
Scheduled on May 23, the event would feature performances by two other collaborative groups also - The Aditya Naryan Collaborative and the Boom Shankar Project.
A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, Lakha Khan is amongst the remaining few in the Manganiyars lineage to have mastered the Sindhi sarangi.
"He is carrying forward the centuries old musical tradition of Rajasthani folk and Sufi music. Khan sings fluently in Sindhi, Punjabi, Hindi, Marwari and a variety of local dialects from North-West India," the organiser.
The Sindhi sarangi, also known as the sing, is a type of sarangi used specifically to play North Indian folk music. Used in parts of Madhya Pradesh especially in Rajasthan, by the Langa community of folk musicians, it comprises a bowed instrument with a tone closely resembling the human voice.
If Lakha Khan dabbles in different languages, Delhi band Boom Shankar Project's music reflects a multitude of influences ranging from Sufi, Indian classical, to the lesser known Bhatiali (traditional boat song of Bengal) and Baul (Bengali folk song) to Persian, Turkish, Rock, Jazz, Blues.
The Aditya Narayan Collaborative is the brain child of Aditya Naryan, a music director in Mumbai, based out of Delhi.
The project is an open source initiative which does not limit itself to the same set of artists.
They experiment with multiple instruments, styles and acts including Opera, Jazz + Funk, Fusion and World music. The very creation of the collaborative is to be able to create new sounds and music with every song.
Their USP is often their unpredictability.
FOM, which is a Teamwork initiative has since 1994 supported budding artists like Indian Ocean, Parikrama, Mrigya, Orange Street, Rabi Shergill, Valentine Shipley and many more bands that are household names today.
The club has also created a widespread platform for indigenous rock, indie and traditional music.
