Kishon Khan

Kishon Khan (born 1970) is a Bangladeshi-born British jazz pianist, composer, arranger and music producer.

Early life
Khan grew up in North London and learnt to play the piano as a child. He studied Economics at the University of East Anglia. During his 20s, he lived in Cuba for a while, which led to him being interested in Afro-Cuban music.

Career
In 1999, Khan set up the Afro-Cuban funk jazz band Motimba. The lineup of Motimba included Justin Thurgur (trombone), Graeme Flowers (trumpet), Oreste Noda (percussion), Jimmy Martinez (bass), Javier Camillo (vocals), Phil Dawson (guitar), and Tansay Ibrahim (drums). In 2003, Motimba’s first album ”Monkey Vibrations” was released.

Khan set up Lokkhi Terra, a musical project combining Bangladeshi music traditions with those from Africa and Latin America. A few members of the Motimba crew also play for Lokkhi Terra; in addition, the band features the Bengali vocalists Sohini Alam, Aanon Siddiqua and Aneire Khan. Lokkhi Terra have released two albums to date.

Khan and his bands have toured extensively, both in the United Kingdom and abroad. In 2009, his score for Sadik Ahmed’s film, The Last Thakur, won a Grand Jury award for Best Music at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York.