Artists - Small World Music

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

Creator of the MOHAN VEENA and the winner of the GRAMMY AWARD, Vishwa Mohan has mesmerized the world with his pristine pure, delicate yet fiery music. It is due to Vishwa’s maiden mega effort that he rechristened guitar as MOHAN VEENA, his genius creation and has established it at the top most level in the mainstream of Indian Classical Music scenario, thereby proving the essence of his name VISHWA (meaning the world) and MOHAN (meaning charmer) and indeed , a world charmer he is.

Being the foremost disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Vishwa Mohan belongs to that elite body of musicians which traces its origin to the Moughal emperor Akbar’s court musician TANSEN and his guru the Hindu Mystic Swami Haridas.

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has attracted international attention by his successful indianisation of the western Hawaiian guitar with his perfect assimilation of sitar, sarod & veena techniques, by giving it a evolutionary design & shape and by adding 14 more strings helping him to establish the instrument MOHAN VEENA to unbelievable heights. With blinding speed and faultless legato, Bhatt is undoubtedly one of the most expressive, versatile and greatest slide player s in the world.

Being a powerhouse performer, Vishwa’s electrifying performance always
captivates the audience whether in the United States of America, Europe, Gulf countries or his motherland India. Vishwa Mohan has become the cultural ambassador of India by carrying the Herculean task of glorifying and popularizing Indian culture and music throughout the world.

Outstanding features of Bhatt’s baaj (style) are his natural ability to play the ‘Tantrakari Ang’ and incorporate the ‘Gayaki Ang’ on Mohan Veena which is the greatest advantage of this instrument over traditional Indian instrument like sitar, sarod and veena. It was no surprise that Vishwa Mohan with his sheer virtuosity and limitless supply of melodies won the highest music award of the world, the GRAMMY AWARD IN 1994 along with Ry Cooder for their World Music Album, ‘A MEETING BY THE RIVER’ enhancing his celebrity status not only as a star performer but also as an improviser and a soulful composer.

Vishwa Mohan has performed extensively in the USA, USSR, Canada, the Great Britain, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, Switzerland, Denmark, then scaling the Gulf of Dubai, Al-Sharjah, Bahrain, Muscat, Abu Dhabi etc. and throughout India. […]

Violets & Viruses

Since 2009, Toronto Hard Rock band Violets & Viruses had been putting together earth shaking performances that combine the elements of Japanese, Taiwanese, European and North American rock music. Their heavy hitting yet melodic songs will keep you head banging all night. […]

Vieux Farka Touré featuring Julia Easterlin

Often referred to as “The Hendrix of the Sahara”, Vieux Farka Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981. Vieux is known for dazzling crowds with his speed and dexterity on the guitar, as well as his palpable charisma and luminous smile, both of which captivate audiences from all audiences. […]

Vid Ingelevics

Vid Ingelevic’s project, Between Dome and Home uses the life of retired Boston-based engineer, Wesley Foote, as its inspiration. The film contrasts Foote’s own documentation of his experience at working in Montreal in the lead-up to Expo 67 with accounts of home life in Montreal from his wife, Linda Foote and children. Supported by Linda and Wesley Foote, and Ryerson University, this project explores the dualities at play during this much-lauded era of innovation. […]

Vesal Ensemble

Vesal Ensemble was established in 2000, by Arjang Seyfizadeh with some of the talented graduated musicians from the Tehran university in Iran.
The members have been working in close collaboration on Iranian Classical Music as well as Iranian Ethnic Music such as Kurdish, Lori and Azeri. […]

Vandana Vishwas

An architect by profession and a musician by passion, critically acclaimed Indo-Canadian World musician Vandana Vishwas is formally trained in North Indian classical vocal music but specializes in composing and singing expressive south-Asian song forms such as Ghazals, Nazms, Geet & light Thumris. Although blessed with prodigal singing skills and flawless silk smooth voice since early childhood, Vandana has had to overcome serious physical challenges caused by a painful permanent injury caused by an unfortunate medical negligence right after she was born.
With two critically acclaimed music albums ‘Meera The lover’ and ‘Monologues’ to her credit, leading her to win Marty Award 2012, US Indies 2011, Toronto Best World CD by TEM 2010 and nominations in Indies 2010, TIMA 2010, K.M. Hunter Award 2011, Vandana sings in many other south Asian languages such as Punjabi, Sindhi, Marathi, Bangla etc. apart from her mother tongue Hindi/Urdu. Sometimes she likes singing in English too! She has recently taken a liking for cross-over experiments, trying to extract the Indian music elements out of western classics!
Vandana has been lauded by the critics for her expressive & crystalline voice (Errol Nazareth, Toronto Sun), simplicity, sincerity & crisp diction (Savia Rajgopal, Mybindi.com), gently gliding entrancing vocals (Andrew Frey, Maximum Ink Music Magazine), tenderness towards melody and lyrics (John Goddard, The Toronto Star) and many other qualities by various other reviewers and critics. ‘It’s almost as if Vandana was the second coming of Lata…’ (Alastair Johnston, muzikifan.com).
Leading legendary musicians have been fascinated with her singing. ‘Vandana’s voice is a musical treat’ says Mr. Sohail Rana, the legendary composer of timeless classics such as ‘Aaj jaane kee zid na karo…’ and ‘Mujhe tum nazar se gira to rah ho…’. ‘It is her persistence and dedicated pursuit of music that have made Vandana evolve into a versatile singer with all the finer nuances, melody and sweet fragrance of Indian music…’ say the famous ghazalist brother duo Ustaad Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain.
Vandana’s recent projects include playback singing for a Marathi feature film “Mi Swatantra Honar” to be released in mid 2014 in India; and composing, singing and producing the theme track for upcoming Hindi novel “Samarsiddha” written by UK based novelist Sandeep Nayyar, being published by Penguin India in mid 2014.
[…]

Uproot Andy

UPROOT ANDY is a Brooklyn based DJ/Producer and co-founder of Que Bajo, the NYC based party that helped pioneer the so called Global Bass movement with its all embracing approach to global electronic music. Originally developing his culture crossing DJ sets at the Mehanata Bulgarian Bar before beginning the Que Bajo parties, Uproot Andy’s unique sound of bass heavy and melodic dance music, first began appearing outside the club on mixtapes such as Guacharaca Migration, called ‘one of the best mixtapes of 2008’ by New York Magazine, as well as on early releases by the Bersa Discos and ZZK record labels. Since then he has toured extensively in Europe and across the Americas appearing in diverse settings from Colombia’s Carnaval de Barranquilla to New York’s Central Park Summerstage to the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards in London. Andy and Que Bajo co-founder Geko Jones represented their global bass sound at the Red Bull Music Academy Culture Clash in NYC and have recently launched Que Bajo Records to release a steady stream of remixes and club edits that give the now famous party its signature sound.
[…]

Upanishads

Upanishads is Debashis Sinha, a percussionist with a distinctive voice and imagination who has long been a fixture on Canada’s creative music scene, netting 2 Juno nominations and a Juno Award as part of various ensembles. He has been an invited performer with many of Canada’s brightest world music lights, and is a member of Knuckleduster with noted Berlin electronica artist Robert Lippok. He enjoys a parallel career as a composer for contemporary dance (most notably creating a large body of original electroacoustic music for Ms. Peggy Baker over the years) and as a sound artist, making many appearances nationally and internationally at ISEA, MUTEK, Banff Centre, Madrid Abierto, Guelph Jazz Festival, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and other venues. He is active in the Toronto theatre community as an award winning sound designer and composer, creating audio for productions at Soulpepper, the Stratford Festival, Necessary Angel, and many other companies. […]

Turkwaz

United by long standing musical friendships and a love of singing, Turkwaz celebrates the stories of life through song. Their curiosity and insatiable thirst for musical experience has led to explorations of song traditions from the Middle East and Turkey to Greece and the Balkans. Apart, they have been collecting, performing and recording traditional repertoire – both as solo artists and as members of numerous bands – for over 30 years, lending their voices to films, theatrical productions and multiple Juno-nominated recordings. As the recently formed Turkwaz, they have been sharing and exploring this repertoire, creating their own adaptations and cultivating a sweet sonic union that is unstoppable. […]

Turbo Street Funk

Turbo Street Funk defy convention; whether they’re playing a festival, pub, concert hall, or even on a busy street corner, the infectious sounds of Turbo Street Funk always sound at home. With a performance style rooted in the New Orleans horn band tradition, Turbo Street Funk combine Top 40 hits with top notch originals in an incendiary show that gets people moving. […]

Archives: Artists