The Dhol Foundation is both a dhol drum institute in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and a musical group playing bhangra music. The

dhol Dhol (IPA: ) can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan primarily includes nort ...

school was founded in 1989 by former

Alaap ''Alaap'' ( lit. Prelude) is a 1977 Indian musical drama film produced by Hrishikesh Mukerjee and N.C Sippy and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Asrani, Farida Jalal, Om Prakash and Manmohan. The music ...

member

Johnny Kalsi Johnny Kalsi is a British Indian ''dhol'' drum performer residing in London. He rose to prominence as a former member of Transglobal Underground and the founder of the Dhol Foundation. He also is a member of the Afro Celt Sound System and The Im ...

when several musicians asked him to be their teacher, and a first album was released by Kalsi and his students in 2001. Dhol drums are a traditional percussion instrument from the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

province in the north of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, from which Kalsi originates. In London he experimented with dance beats and electronic music, which he mixes with the traditional bhangra style in his albums. Their music has been featured in Hollywood films such as ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The film stars Le ...

'' and ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'', and have worked with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to the film ''

Rabbit-Proof Fence The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from th ...

''. They opened the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in Melbourne in 2006. TDF have a connection to

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

, as they own the copyright to all of their songs, and they have also performed at WOMAD many times of the past few years. In fact, in the past two years, they have played at Womad Reading twice, despite not being scheduled to appear either time. Although officially released in 2005, 200 pre-release 'festival edition' copies of the album ''Drum-Believable'' were available to those who attended Womad Reading in 2004. These are now a rarity.

Discography

*2001: ''

Big Drum Small World ''Big Drum Small World'' is the first studio album from Johnny Kalsi and his students from the Dhol Foundation institute in London. It was released in 2001 by Shakti Records and produced by Johnny Kalsi. Track listing *All songs written by J ...

'' *2005: '' Drum-Believable'' *2007: '' Drums 'n' Roses'' *2010: '' Drum Struck'' *2017: ''Basant''

External links

The Dhol Foundation
* TDF on allmusic.com Bhangra (music) musical groups British world music groups Asian Underground musicians Musical groups established in 1989 {{UK-band-stub

Discography

See also

External links