Falsa

Sufi Music | Invoking Meditation, Conversation & Transcendence | As Featured on NPR and Acclaimed Performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and More.

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Based in New York City, Falsa is rooted in 14th century Sufi music (Indian classical mysticism similar to Rumi's elevating poetry) with contemporary arrangements transcending genre-specificity and cultural preconceptions, in collaboration with a diverse array of improvisational world musicians.

A Falsa experience can range from Minimalist Meditative to Raga Jazz Fusion to high energy World Improvisation that gets you moving, to a more explosive Ritual-Communitas oriented one featuring dancers and immersive visuals. But ultimately, Falsa is about normalizing the transcendent experience.

It originally emerged as a collaboration between long-term friends and has since evolved into an exploration of what's possible when people are moved collectively by the pursuit of the intangible aspects of a communal gathering. There's a mystical culinary connection here: Falsa gets its name from a tropical berry native to India and Pakistan. And Sufi music is about a state of separation that longs for union. There was a decade in Umer's (vocalist, Falsa) life that he couldn’t return home to Pakistan from the US due to Kafkaesque immigration bureaucracies. When he finally returned and had the fruit again, it "broke through all the intellectualization and numbness I realized I had cultivated to cope, and in the process of giving myself over to the majesty of feeling I realized that home is something you cannot take with you, you have to return to it"

In our music, we want to revere and dignify the most magical aspects of experience that are gifts and not acquisitions, like reclaiming a half-remembered dream. Our music is not about means to ends, but about meaning and transcendence, about healing a wounded alienation we feel in our very highly mechanized, and in the ways that matter, poorly connected society, one performance at a time.

BOOKINGS/CONTACT: FALSA@FALSAMUSIC.COM

 Umer Piracha

Umer Piracha Sings Sufi Music w/ Charu Suri (Piano), Max ZT (Hammered Dulcimer), Preservation Hall’s Joe Lastie (Drums), and J. Brunka (Double Bass)
Carnegie Hall, New York City, 04-05-24.
Ana Gibert Photography

// Origin: Multan, Pakistan. Currently: New York City

// Genre: Sufi Music, World Music, (Raga) Jazz

// Website: www.falsamusic.com

Bio

Sufi Music for Voice | Invoking Meditation, Transcendence, and Conversation.

Raised in the Sufi city of Multan, Pakistan, Umer Piracha was classically trained in voice from the age of four. Today, his contemporary arrangements of 14th-century Sufi music captivate audiences from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to NPR broadcasts. Collaborating with a diverse range of improvisational musicians, Umer transcends cultural boundaries and genre norms to craft performances that invite meditation, conversation, and transcendence.

Stay connected with Umer's journey by following @falsamusic on Instagram, and Falsa on Facebook

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Albums:

Book of Ragas Vol.2 A blend of American jazz and Eastern Indian scales along with Umer’s Sufi vocal improvisations.

American Sufi Contemporary arrangements of ancient music, transcending genre-specificity and cultural preconceptions, in collaboration with a diverse array of improvisational world musicians.

Download Hi-Res Images Here

Based in New York City, Umer Piracha draws his musical roots from 14th-century Sufi music, a form of Indian classical mysticism echoing Rumi's elevating poetry. Through contemporary arrangements and collaborations with a diverse array of improvisational world musicians, Umer transcends genre-specificity and cultural preconceptions.

Performing both solo and under the project 'Falsa,' he crafts musical experiences that span the spectrum from minimalist meditative to raga jazz fusion, and from high-energy world improvisation to more immersive, ritual-communitas oriented performances with dancers and stunning visuals. At the core, Umer seeks to normalize the transcendent experience inherent in music.

The name 'Falsa' holds a profound personal and mystical connection for Umer. It refers to a tropical berry native to India and Pakistan, symbolizing the Sufi concept of longing for union after a state of separation. This resonates deeply with Umer's own life experience – after spending a decade unable to return to Pakistan due to complex immigration bureaucracies, his eventual homecoming and tasting the fruit again served as a cathartic realization. Umer discovered that "home is something you cannot take with you, you have to return to it”.

Follow Umer @UmerPiracha and @falsamusic on Instagram, and Falsa Music on Facebook

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