Music Salon – Searching for the Blues: The Ancient Folk Music of the Rajasthan Desert

with Amir Alibhai and Imran Babur

Join us for an in person Music Salon November 3rd from 7:45-9:00pm ET. 

When people talk of the Blues, they usually mean the genre of African-American music that originated in the U.S. Deep South in the mid 1800s. But this music comes from a universal wellspring of human experience that arises out of hardship and speaks to the human condition.

Acting on the conviction that every culture has its own equivalent of the blues, Ankur Malhotra and Ashutosh Sharma, founders of New Delhi-based Amarrass Records, set out on several journeys through Rajasthan, in northwest India, to search out the “Indian blues”. Driving through the desert, they met masterful musicians living quietly in small villages in the shifting sands. Some of these masters had played at large festivals in India, and some internationally, but many were unknown to the wider world. The result of these encounters was a three-part docuseries, produced in partnership with Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum, called Searching for the Blues. 

The Massey College Music Society is thrilled to present an evening with Amir Alibhai, Head of Performing Arts at the Aga Khan Museum and Executive Producer of Searching for the Blues; and Imran Babur, film-maker, multi-disciplinary artist, and Video Director/Editor of the docuseries. They will screen part of the series, and talk about the history of this music, the artistry of its practitioners, and its future in a changing world.

The event will also be live streamed.

If you would like to attend formal dinner before the Music Salon, please contact the porter at porter@masseycollege.ca.

Massey College is committed to the safety of its staff and residents while continuing to pursue its mission of nourishing learning and serving the public good.

In accordance with provincial regulations, all people who come into Massey College premises, must now be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and are required to provide proof of vaccination – it may be a photocopy of a paper vaccination receipt for your second vaccination, or an electronic receipt presented to the Porter upon arrival to the College. Guests to the College must complete a self-assessment, providing an email address and telephone number, to assist in contact tracing. The College will not copy nor retain any official health records of our residents nor visitors. 

Our COVID Protocols can be found here.