Aki Kumar

Akarsha "Aki" Kumar (born 1980)[2] is an Indian-born blues musician now living in San Jose, California. After working at a technology job, he is now a harmonica player and vocalist.

Aki Kumar
Background information
Born1980 (age 39–40)[1]
Mumbai, India
GenresBlues, Bollywood
Websitehttps://akikumar.com/

Early life, education, and former career

Kumar was born and grew up in Mumbai and moved to the US in 1998 to study, initially in Oklahoma City and then at San Jose State University in Silicon Valley.[2][3] Soon after completing a degree in computer science, he went to work at Adobe.[4]

Music career

While growing up, Kumar studied keyboards and tabla and had his first harmonica; his parents listened to Bollywood music[4][5] and also "everything from Bach to John Denver, from Stevie Wonder to the Police".[6] He was first attracted to oldies radio in the US[2] and then found the blues through bars and clubs in the Bay Area; he studied with David Barrett, and played harmonica in a quartet called "Tip of the Top".[3][4] In 2013, when Adobe closed his department, he chose to focus on his music.[4] His first album, released in 2014, was titled Don't Hold Back;[3][7] his second, Aki Goes to Bollywood (2016), on bluesman's Jim Pugh's Little Village Foundation label, fuses Chicago blues and Bollywood music.[2][4][5] His third album Hindi Man Blues followed in 2018.

Kumar is eclectic in his blues style.[2] He performs as half of a duo with guitarist Little Jonny Lawton[3] as well as with his quartet, the Aki Kumar Blues Band,[5] hosts blues jams and works as a session musician. He is sponsored by Seydel harmonicas. He has toured in Norway with Hans Bollandsås and in 2015 performed with him at the Nidaros Blues Festival.[8] In 2016 he performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.[2][4]

Personal life

As of 2016, Kumar lives with his wife Rachel, who continues to work in the computer field, in the Cambrian Park neighborhood of San Jose.[4]

Discography
  • 2009 Depot Street Blues (with Tip of the Top) (Delta King Records)
  • 2010 Rock Tonight (with Tip of the Top) (Delta King Records)
  • 2011 From Memphis to Greaseland (with Tip of the Top) (Delta King Records)
  • 2014 Don't Hold Back (Greaseland Records)
  • 2015 It Takes Three: Three Generations of South Bay Blues Harmonica (with Gary Smith and David Barrett) (Greaseland Records)
  • 2016 Aki Goes to Bollywood (Little Village Foundation)
  • 2018 Hindi Man Blues (Little Village Foundation)
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References
  1. Levesque, Roger (17 May 2018). "Software engineer turned bluesman goes back to Bollywood for new inspiration". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. Andrew Gilbert (2 October 2016). "Aki Kumar fuses blues and Bollywood". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. Andrew Gilbert (18 July 2014). "Aki Kumar makes the blues his calling". San Jose Mercury News.
  4. Nick Veronin (19 October 2016). "Bollywood Blues: Channeling Memphis and Mumbai, Aki Kumar Crafts a Bi-Continental Sound". Metro Silicon Valley. pp. 12+.
  5. Kelly Whalen (25 August 2016). "Blowin' the Blues Bollywood-Style with Aki Kumar". San Francisco: KQED. Republished Art Beat, PBS, 26 September 2016.
  6. Jonny Whiteside (16 January 2016). "Music Review: Blues harmonica player Aki Kumar seeks to find the truth in music". Glendale News-Press.
  7. Marty Gunther (9 January 2015). "Aki Kumar – Don't Hold Back: Album Review". Blues Blast.
  8. Tove Andersson (19 October 2016). "Fra Bollywood til Hell". Tronderbladet (in Norwegian).
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