Karjam Saeji is a Tibetan singer/songwriter/dancer from the grasslands near Maqu in

Gansu Province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...

in China. He performed with the Gannan Tibetan Performance Troupe, from

Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Gānnán Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (; ) is an autonomous prefecture in southern Gansu Province, China, bordering Linxia to the north, Dingxi to the northeast, Longnan to the east and Aba (Sichuan province) to the south . It includes Xiahe a ...

from 1991 and moved to the United States in 2007. He recorded a CD, Pilgrimage, in 2007 as part of the Lopez Artist Advance Project, on

Lopez Island Lopez Island is the third largest of the San Juan Islands and an unincorporated town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. Lopez Island is in land area. The 2000 census population was 2,177, though the population swells in the summer, ...

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. The executive producers of "Pilgrimage" were Lenedra Carroll Press release about Lenedra's work with Karjam. (formerly manager for Jewel) and Michele and Steve Heller. The producer was Ralf Illenberger.

Biography

Karjam was one of the invited performers for the 2008 World Festival of Sacred Music held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Festival website calendar. "Pilgrimage" was nominated in 2009 for the Just Plain Folks music awards, the largest independent music awards in the world, as were two of the singles off the album, "Danlih" and "Nehnijih Lirang". On August 28, 2009 at the awards show they announced that Karjam won the Asian Album award for "Pilgrimage" and was the first runner-up for the Best Asian Song with "Danlih". In 2010 he appeared at the Seattle Folklife Festival and was honored to be included in the Northwest Roots and Grooves CD that included some of the best music from the festival. He also performed at Northwest Folklife in 2012 and 2013. In 2011, he performed again at the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles.

Awards and recognition

He was nominated for the 2011 Independent Music Awards best traditional world music album for his 2011 CD, "Tibet in my Heart." This CD, recorded in

Seoul, Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, includes a mix of traditional acoustic instruments from around the world with guest performances by Philip Graulty of Los Angeles Electric 8, well known Korean percussionist Go Seokjin (who often accompanies Jang Sa-ik, and a host of other friends including Karjam's childhood schoolmate and exceptional vocalist Samkuchet. One of Karjam's songs was included on the CD "Tribal Beats: Music for the Strange and Beautiful Vol. 3" curated by Bellydance sensation April Rose. Karjam is known for his strong singing voice, frequently singing a cappella. He also accompanies himself with the

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, the Tibetan

dranyen The dramyin or dranyen (; dz, dramnyen; ) is a traditional Himalayan folk music lute with six strings, used primarily as an accompaniment to singing in the Drukpa Buddhist culture and society in Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, Ladakh, Sikkim and ...

, and sometimes on the mandolin and banjo. Karjam joins a fairly large group of musicians in the Tibetan tradition now active in the West, including singer Techung, singer

Yungchen Lhamo Yungchen Lhamo (Tibetan: དབྱངས་ཅན་ལྷ་མོ, ''lhamo'' meaning "goddess of song") is a Tibetan singer-songwriter living in the United States. She won the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album in 1995 and was then signed ...

, singer Phurbu T Namgyal, flautist Nawang Khechog and Jewish-American Tibetan-genre performer

Amalia Rubin Amalia Rubin is a westerner who sings in the Tibetan language along with the music from a Tibetan instrument. She performed in a famous Tibetan restaurant in Beijing and met top-notch Tibetan singer, Kunga Phuntsok. Her two albums are "''Mounta ...

Partial discography

Notes

External links

Karjam Saeji's homepageKarjam on MySpace

References

accessed 8/10/09.

accessed 8/10/09.

accessed 8/10/09.
Just Plain Folks 2009 Nominations List
accessed 8/7/09.
Article on Phayul (Tibetan News Website)
accessed 8/7/09.

accessed 8/7/09.
Just Plain Folks awards announcement
Accessed on August 31, 2009.

Accessed 12/12/2012.

Accessed 6/10/2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saeji, Karjam 21st-century Tibetan male singers Chinese male dancers Chinese dancers 21st-century Chinese male singers Chinese male singer-songwriters Living people People from Gannan Singers from Gansu Year of birth missing (living people)