We generally play Sufi music, an ancient genre of music created using proto-indo-iranian verses and predominantly ancient gypsy scale by prophets and poets of the mystique desert land of the present middle-east. Though the music has undergone huge transformation through time, the loveliness of the verses still remains, and pours out from time to time from the lips of the Sufi singer. The singer, generally male, sings the verses that are written in agreement with a female subject, making the songs uniquely passionate and touching. Modern renditions of the songs include a lot of instrumentation, making the songs lively, melodious and hummable. Our repertoire includes guitars, bass, banjo, violin, flute, accordion, harmonica, djembe, cahon, keyboard and the Indian percussion instrument Tabla. 

Mast Qalandar

Maula

Dhoom Pichuk

Kesaria Balam-Mitwa

Maeri

Laaga Chunri Mein Daag

Chhaap Tilak

Chola Maati ke Raam

Desh Mera

Teri Deewani

We are a bunch of musicians from Rochester, NY, trying to meet up once a week for a jamming session to break away from our busy work life. We have performed a number of times at the University of Rochester campus, including the Strong Auditorium, to an emphatic popular response. We have now started performing off campus, trying to entice the people of Rochester with the unique genre of music we play, and we call it the Desert Monsoon's Sufi Sound.

Our musicians (past and present):-
Vocals and guitar- Himanshu Shekhar
Bass, Banjo and Accordion- Len Zheleznyak
Violin: Praveen Vin, Elizabeth Wu
Flute: Karla Patricia Marcado
Keyboard: Sayak Ghatak
Tabla: Nirmalya Chatterjee
Cahon and Djembe: Tania Maria Caballero
Mandolin: Supriya Nair

Desert Monsoon

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