San Francisco
Rocking the West Coast World Music scene hard with its fusion of hip-hop/spoken word, ritual dance, and traditional World influences, Hamsa Lila earned its stripes as venerable force within the world music genre. Since their inception in 2001 they've been recognized as a pioneer in world fusion, singing in multiple languages, alongside hypnotic polyrhythms led by South African deep-pocket groove drummer Ian "Inkx" Herman (who’s backed Paul Simon, Sting, Hugh Masakela, Vusi Mahlasela), and mesmerizing vocals of the velvet voiced Nikila Badua and soulful Deja Solis, along with the core tribal resonance of MJ Greenmountain on male lead vocals and percussion. The bottom pulse of Hamsa Lila comes from the Gnawa bass like lute called the ‘sintir’, played by Vir McCoy. This goat-gut stringed, camel-skinned ’bass’ has a penetratingly deep tone delivery that exemplifies Hamsa Lila’s unique sound. When the repetition of trance melodies are added to this equation by another Moroccan, gut-stringed lute called the ‘Guimbri’, played by Beryl Jacobson, the group produces a sound that is wholly their own: a potent healing salve of electro-organic roots, hypno-grooves, and other-worldly melodies. And when embellished with the multi-instrumental talents of Evan Fraser (who is half of the hugely popular duo Dirtwire), on flutes, synths, ngoni, kalimbas, jawharps, and percussion, Hamsa Lila erupts in tidal wave of divine sounds and rhythms. The band became a sensation for their marathon "all night" performances at Burning Man and other popular West Coast festivals and events, and cemented a historic 2nd place on two national charts for their previous studio release "Gathering One.". ( CMJ, Billboard ) in the World Fusion category.
Hamsa Lila has shared the stage with a number of renowned artists such as Karsh Kale, Michael Franti, Steve Kimmock, String Cheese Incident, Rasaki Aladokun ( King Sunny Ade), Tinariwen, and many others. Hamsa Lila’s new album, Aurora, is their latest studio recording, a collection of previously un-released studio gems. The album will be fully released in August 2015.
Hamsa Lila’s tracks
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