A Wolf at Your Door

Little-known artists from Europe and the Americas are making world tours out of an India trip...

Written by Debesh Banerjee
May 16, 2009 01:30 AM IST

2 min read

Little-known artists from Europe and the Americas are making world tours out of an India trip. The name Carl Abou Samah or even his alias Karl Wolf may not be familiar here,but the 29-year-old rhythm and blues singer from Canada is quick to profess his love for Indian music: My father was proficient in the tabla and I picked up the instrument as a 10-year-old. I have always had an urge to come down to India and perform here. He is on the road,fulfilling the desire,as part of Ray-Ban VH1 Global Music Xpress tour. After performing in Pune,Mumbai and Bangalore,he will be in Noida on Sunday evening.

Only two albums young,Wolf got recognised with his debut Face Behind the Face when it received a nomination for the countrys Juno Award for the Best R&B/Soul Recording. What are striking are the Middle Eastern strains in his music,and you can trace them to Lebanon where he was born. He plays the oud and the Arabic tracks of his childhood still form a backdrop to his music.

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Now he is trying out some international collaborations. I am collaborating with artists like Snoop Dog for my third album Night Life which releases this year. I am also working with Akon and Jean Sean, he explains. But while in India,he is on a dedicated search for bhangra musicians. I collaborated with the Punjabi singer Sukhbir for his album Tere Naal Nachna in 2008 and there on got hooked to the sound of bhangra, says Wolf,who is trying to add wild Punjabi beats to his compositions. Perhaps I will come out with a composition with Arabic and bhangra sounds rolled into one.