Neeraj Arya’s Kabir Cafe – Kabir’s verses served fresh

Gyaan Adab presented an evening of Kabir’s soulful poetry performed by Neeraj Arya’s Kabir Café. The band had reinterpreted the philosophical verses of the15th century mystic poet with elements of pop, reggae, rock and fusion. They carried Kabir’s pithy words across to audience in a musical and engaging way.
The band comprised of Neeraj Arya on lead vocals, rhythm and guitar, who has been relentlessly researching and performing Kabir’s poetry across the country since the last 6 years. Influenced by several folk Kabir artists like Prahladji Tippania and Mir Mukhtiar Ali, Neeraj has applied his own musical sensibilities and pioneered a genre called Kabir Rock.
On Violin was the talented musician Mukund Ramaswamy, a disciple of Sri. S. V Ramachandran and Smt. Muthulakshmi Vedanarayanan. Raman Iyer was on the mandolin. As a musician who likes to experiment and not stick to boundaries, Raman began his musical journey by learning the western scales and notation, and then moved on to Hindustani and Carnatic styles, this range was evident in his melodious playing. Viren Solanki on percussion showed a keen understanding of Classical, Folk and Sufi music. A student of Fazal and Taufiq Qureshi, Viren has been learning the tabla since he was 8 years old.
Raman simplified Kabir’s distinct words by giving effective explanations of the verses that the band performed. The band’s music was so irresistibly dreamy that the younger crowd in the audience got on their feet and swayed to the rhythm.

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