Indian-American Singer Falguni Shah Wins Grammy, Know all about her

Falguni Shah Biography: The 64th Grammy Awards have been conferred at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in Las Vegas. In this 64th Grammy Awards, celebrities who made their significant contribution in the field of music were honoured with the award. Indian-origin singers Falguni Shah and Ricky Cage have also won the Grammy Award at this award ceremony held on Sunday night.

Falguni Shah has been given this honour for the children's music album Aa Rahman. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian-origin singer Falguni for winning the Grammy Award on Twitter. Congratulating the singer, PM Modi wrote, "Many congratulations to Falguni Shah for winning the Best Children's Music Album award at the Grammy Awards. Best wishes to them for their future endeavours.

Congratulations to Falguni Shah on winning the award for the Best Children’s Music Album at the Grammys. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours. @FaluMusic

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 5, 2022

Who is Falguni Shah?

Falguni Shah, popularly known as Falu, is a New-York based singer-songwriter who won a Grammy Award for ‘A Colorful World’ in the best children’s album category. The Mumbai based singer took to her Instagram to share this amazing news with her fans. She captioned her picture from the event as she wrote, “I have no words to describe today’s magic.” Falu was previously nominated for a Grammy in the same category for her 2018 album “Falu’s Bazaar”. The 2022 Grammy winner is known for her “modern inventive style with a formidable Indian classically-shaped vocal talent”.

Falguni Shah Early Life and Background

Falu was trained in the Jaipur gharana musical tradition in Mumbai. She later continued practicing under the sarangi/vocal master Ustad Sultan Khan.

In 2000, Falu moved to the States and joined the Boston-based Indo-American band Karyshma as a lead vocalist. In 2001, she met up with Asian Massive leader Karsh Kale, and hit the nationwide university, club and festival circuits. After fulfilling 2-year Indian music visiting lectureship at Tufts University in Boston, Falu moved to New York where she formed her own band of the same name. 

 

Falguni Shah Husband, Children and more

Falguni Shah is married to Gaurav Shah, Falu’s son is four-year-old Nishaad.

 

She moved to US in 2000, following her marriage to Gaurav Shah of the band ‘Karyshma.’ After joining 'Karyshma' as a vocalist, Shah released her first solo album in 2007. Her 2013 album—'Foras Road'—made it to the Grammys but her first nomination came with 2019's 'Falu's Bazaar.' pic.twitter.com/uGfWs8t6pv

— NewsBytes (@NewsBytesApp) April 4, 2022

Falguni Shah Career and Music Journey

• In 2005 she was asked to serve as one of Carnegie Hall's Musical Ambassadors to New York City. 

• In May 2006, she performed her debut solo performance at Carnegie Hall (Zankel). Later in the year she joined the Born Into Brothels Ensemble (from the 2004 Academy-Award winning film) and in early 2007 she collaborated with Wyclef Jean, lending her vocal style to the score of Angelina Jolie's directorial debut A Place in Time.

• In August 2007, Falu released her self-titled debut CD. 

• Later her "Indie Hindi" musical style made its mark in the Wall Street Journal as representative of a new class of musical hybrids. 

• In May 2009, Falu made a special appearance at the Time 100 Gala—Time magazine's yearly gala celebrating their list of the 100 most influential people in the world—performing a rendition of "Jai Ho" alongside Slumdog Millionaire film composer AR Rahman, for an exclusive and star-studded crowd which included First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Stella McCartney, Liv Tyler, M.I.A. and more.

• 2011 was a year of film music for Falu, from writing music for the documentary "The Human Tower" (along with composers Andres Subercaseaux and Rene Veron) to writing for the film "First Sight" (with Sivamani and Mark Tewarson). 

• In the same year, Falu also contributed to Global Noize's sophomore album Prayer For the Planet. 

• In 2013 Falu released her second album entitled "Foras Road", a collection of original and traditional songs inspired by the semi-classical music performed and guarded for centuries by courtesans dwelling on the road of the same name in Bombay. The album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Danny Blume and was featured on NPR's SoundCheck Archived on 15 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine in May, 2013. "Foras Road" was then re-released in November 2018.

• Falu's band of the same name includes musicians who draw from Indian classical, alternative rock, contemporary pop, and electronic styles to create a mix of East and West—one reason why The New York Times featured Falu in a story titled "Bridging Cultural Gaps with Music." The band members are Gaurav Shah (vocals/harmonium), Mark Tewarson (guitars), Danny Blume (bass), Deep Singh (tabla/percussions), and Dave Sharma (percussions) and Soumya Chatterjee (violin).

• In 2015, Falu was named one of the 20 most influential global Indian women by the Economic Times of India. In 2018, she won the Women Icons of India award in Mumbai, India. Falu was an integral part of Givenchy's September 11 fashion show (Ricardo Tisci collection under the art direction of Marina Abramović) in NYC, where she performed for a star-studded audience. Falu continues to pursue her commitment to introducing children to the wonders of the world through her Grammy-nominated debut kids project, "Falu’s Bazaar", which takes families on a musical journey through South Asia, as well as through her artist-in-residence position at Carnegie Hall.

• In 2018, she came out with a twelve-song album in Hindi, English, and Gujarati called Falu's Bazaar. It features her husband, singer-songwriter Gaurav Shah, and her mother, classical singer Kishori Dalal. Dalal has also sung a piece called Nishaad’s Lullaby, a song in Gujarati without any percussion. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Children’s Music category in 2019. Falu released a follow-up children's album, A Colorful World, along with producer Kenya Autie in 2021, which also received a Grammy nomination for Best Children's Album.

• In 2020, Falu teamed up with bassist Yasushi Nakamura, drummer Clarence Penn and guitarist, and vocalist Clay Ross to form the American Patchwork Quartet. Leveraging immigrant histories and backgrounds, the Quartet interprets timeless songs from a modern 21st-century perspective. The group continues to tour performing arts centres around the world. 

Falu—in her second nod after 2019—was competing against Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band ('Crayon Kids'), 123 Andrés ('Actívate'), 1 Tribe Collective ('All One Tribe'), and Pierce Freelon ('Black to the Future'). pic.twitter.com/IUcegwfy10

— NewsBytes (@NewsBytesApp) April 4, 2022