Kalaha is a Danish band consisting of Emil de Waal (drums), Niclas Knudsen (guitar), Rumpistol aka Jens Berents Christiansen (synthesizer) and electronic producer Mikael Elkjær aka Spejderrobot... The band takes inspiration from Afrobeat, Anatolian rock, electronic rave music and jazz improvisation.
Kalaha has collaborated with a wide range of artists from around the world including Hilal Kaya, Uffe Lorenzen (Spids Nøgenhat/Baby Woodrose) In 2019 they played a show together with American bass player Bill Laswell at Black Diamond during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival.
Kalaha's debut album "Hahaha", released in 2014, was a live recording from their first show ever as a band. Their follow-up album "Masala" (2016) received a Danish Music Award (Jazz) in the category "Special Release of the Year" as well as receiving airplay by Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 6 Music. Their third album "Mandala" (2019) was also well received by the critics and highlighted as album of the year in the Danish Newspaper Information. The album featured the band's first Turkish song "Çok Küstüm", which became the beginning of a long time collaboration with the Turkish singer Hilal Kaya and also secured the band some attention in Turkey.
In 2020 their single "Eymen" brought Kalaha a Danish Music Award (Roots) nomination for Danish Roots Track of The Year and their single "Dans Det Op feat. Uffe Lorenzen was nominated as "Song of the Year 2020" for the Danish Critics Award Steppeulven.
Since their 2014 debut, Kalaha has been using Danish artist Zven Balslev as their art director. Zven Balslev has also directed three of the bands music videos.
Discography
Albums
Title | Label | Format | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Hahaha | Rump Recordings | Digital Album | 2014 |
Masala | Rump Recordings | Vinyl & Digital Album | 2016 |
Masala – Extra Spicy | Rump Recordings | Vinyl & Digital Album | 2018 |
Mandala | DME | Vinyl & Digital Album | 2019 |
Mystafa | April Records | Vinyl, CD & Digital Album | 2021 |
Singles & EPs
Title | Label | Format | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Quarquaba | Rump Recordings | Digital EP | 2016 |
Wahwahwah | Rump Recordings | Digital EP | 2016 |
Dragon Jenny (Extended Version) | Rump Recordings | Digital Single | 2018 |
Mama Ngoma | Rump Recordings | Digital EP | 2018 |
Çok Küstüm feat. Hilal Kaya | DME | Digital Single | 2019 |
Eymen feat. Hilal Kaya | DME | Digital Single | 2019 |
Eymen feat. Hilal Kaya (Junglelyd & Merlyn Silva remix feat. Huaynot) | Sofa Beats | Digital Single | 2019 |
Dans Det Op feat. Uffe Lorenzen / Eymen feat. Hilal Kaya | April Records | 7" Vinyl | 2020 |
Vivo | April Records | Digital Single | 2020 |
Özgürüm Ben feat. Hilal Kaya | DME | Digital Single | 2020 |
Hurt You Once Again feat. Hjalte Ross | April Records | Digital Single | 2021 |
Awards
Won
- 2017, Danish Music Awards – Jazz. Category: Special Release of the Year for the album "Masala"
- 2019, Carl Prisen. Category: Roots Composer of the Year for the EP "Mama Ngoma"
Nominated
- 2017, Danish Music Awards – World. Category: Danish World composer of the year; Niclas Knudsen, Emil De Waal, Spejderrobot og Rumpistol (Kalaha) – ‘’Quarquaba EP’
- 2020, Danish Music Awards – Roots. Category: Danish Roots Track of the Year for "Eymen"
- 2021, Steppeulven. Category: Track of the year for "Dans det op" featuring Uffe Lorentzen.
References
- "Beijing Beats: J-Fever at Blue Note, Kalaha at Dada, and DJ Sodeyama at Lantern". Thebeijinger.com. October 11, 2017.
- "Kalaha feat. Hilal Kaya – Özgürüm Ben – DMA Jazz | TV 2 Lorry". Cdn.lorry.bazo.dk. November 29, 2020.
- "Kalaha Featuring Uffe Lorenzen – dans Det Op (2020, Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 2020.
- "Bill Laswell & Kalaha (US/DK) | Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2019". Copenhagen Jazz Festival.
- Rygaard, Rasmus. "Kalaha". Soundvenue.com.
- ^ "Her er årets vindere af DMA Jazz 2017". JazzDanmark. 4 December 2017.
- "BBC Radio 6 Music – Gilles Peterson, Gilles's Glasgow Gems". BBC.
- "Anmeldelse: Kalaha skaber en festlig mosaik af det bedste fra alle verdner | Information". Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- "ANMELDELSE: Medrivende nyt fra de danske globalister". Gaffa.dk.
- "Kalaha - Mandala | Anmeldelse | Vinyl". Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- "Tre nævenyttige unge gennemskuede, hvordan man vinder hver gang i Kalaha. Bandet Kalaha er sværere at regne ud". Politiken. May 19, 2019.
- "Dansk musik i 2019: Spil nu noget andet, nogle andre, noget anderledes | Information". Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
- "Kalaha: "Dinleyicilerimiz Türkçe anlayamıyor ama müziğe bayılıyor"". Dergy.com. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "De nominerede til DMA Roots er offentliggjort". Gaffa.dk.
- ^ Wolkoff, Christian (11 December 2020). "Se alle de nominerede til prisuddelingen Steppeulven – Joyce og Ganger fører an". Soundvenue.com.
- "RECORD COVERS — Zven Balslev". Archived from the original on 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
- "Kalaha – Çok Küstüm (feat. Hilal Kaya)". YouTube. 29 March 2019.
- "Kalaha – Mama Ngoma [Official Video]". YouTube. 24 October 2018.
- "Kalaha – Eymen (feat. Hilal Kaya)". YouTube. 17 September 2019.
- ^ "Kalaha". Discogs.
- "Rump Recordings". Rump Recordings.
- "Dans det op, by Kalaha Featuring Uffe Lorenzen". Kalaha Featuring Uffe Lorenzen.
- "Carl Prisen 2019". Musikforlæggerne.dk. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- "DMA World 2016 – Her er de nominerede". Koda.