{{Infobox musical artist | name = Aki Kumar | image = Aki_Goes_to_Bollywood_in_Berkeley,_CA,_July_20_2018.jpg | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1980}}<ref name=Edmonton>{{cite news | url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/music/software-engineer-turned-bluesman-goes-back-to-bollywood-for-new-inspiration | title=Software engineer turned bluesman goes back to Bollywood for new inspiration | date=May 17, 2018 | newspaper=Edmonton Journal | author=Roger Levesque | access-date=July 28, 2018 }}</ref> | birth_place = Mumbai, India | genre = Blues, Bollywood | website = https://akikumar.com/ }}
'''Akarsha "Aki" Kumar''' (born 1980)<ref name=SF>{{cite news |author=Andrew Gilbert |url=http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Aki-Kumar-takes-his-blues-to-Bollywood-9376180.php |title=Aki Kumar fuses blues and Bollywood |website=SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle) |date=October 2, 2016 }}</ref> 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.
==Early life, education, and former career== Kumar was born and grew up in Mumbai, where his parents' upbringing and eclectic tastes—his father was a Kannadiga, his mother a Telugu—exposed him to a broad range of sounds—everything from rock 'n' roll and pop to the more traditional sounds of Bollywood film scores and Indian classical music.<ref name="epaper.livemint.com">{{Cite web |author=Sanjoy Narayan |title=Christmas blues with a Bollywood twist|url=https://epaper.livemint.com/Home/ShareArticle?OrgId=c05dd459&imageview=0|date=December 21, 2019 |access-date=May 27, 2021 |website=LiveMint}}</ref> In his youth, he studied both keyboards and tabla, and acquired his first harmonica from his father.<ref name="Metro">{{cite news|author=Nick Veronin|date=October 19, 2016|title=Bollywood Blues: Channeling Memphis and Mumbai, Aki Kumar Crafts a Bi-Continental Sound|pages=12+|newspaper=Metro Silicon Valley|url=http://activate.metroactive.com/2016/10/channeling-memphis-by-way-of-mumbai-aki-kumar-crafts-bi-continental-blues/}}</ref><ref name="KQED" /> He listened to "everything from Bach to John Denver, from Stevie Wonder to the Police" in addition to music that dominated the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="LA">{{cite news|author=Jonny Whiteside|date=January 16, 2016|title=Music Review: Blues harmonica player Aki Kumar seeks to find the truth in music|newspaper=Glendale News-Press|url=http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/entertainment/tn-gnp-blues-harmonica-player-aki-kumar-seeks-to-find-the-truth-in-music-20160117-story.html}}</ref>
He moved to the US in 1998 to study computer science, initially in Oklahoma City and then at San Jose State University in Silicon Valley. He was first attracted to American oldies radio, and then discovered the blues by visiting nightclubs and bars in the Bay Area.<ref name="SF" /><ref name="Merc">{{cite news |author=Andrew Gilbert |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2014/07/18/aki-kumar-makes-the-blues-his-calling/ |title=Aki Kumar makes the blues his calling |newspaper=San Jose Mercury News |date=July 18, 2014 }}</ref> Soon after completing a degree, he went to work at Adobe. He turned to music full-time after Adobe eliminated his department and laid him off in 2013.<ref name="Metro" /><ref>{{Cite web |author=April Peavey |title=I wanted to be bigger than Bill Gates — but I fell in love with the blues|url=https://theworld.org/stories/2016/07/01/aki-kumar |date=July 5, 2016 |access-date=March 20, 2021 |website=The World |publisher=Public Radio International |type=audio interview }}</ref>
==Music career== Kumar's harmonica playing is rooted in the classical style invented by Little Walter and others, but his blues style is eclectic.<ref name="SF" /> He developed his skills by studying with David Barrett, who operates the School of the Blues in San Jose. He played regularly in the band Tip of the Top for several years before forming his own band and launching a solo career.
Kumar expresses his pride in his Indian heritage by blending melodies from Hindi movies and Indian classical music with American blues, creating a fusion of East and West that he calls "Bollywood blues". He formulated the concept while humming along to a song from his homeland one day and realizing that it had a blues progression and that he could sing it "with a Jimmy Reed feel". Titled "Ajeeb Daastaan Hei Yah (This Is a Strange Tale)", it appears as the final track of his first album, ''Don't Hold Back'', which was released in 2014.<ref name=Edmonton/><ref name="epaper.livemint.com"/><ref name="Metro" /><ref name="Merc" /><ref>{{cite web |author=Marty Gunther |url=http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/aki-kumar-dont-hold-back-album-review/ |title=Aki Kumar – Don't Hold Back: Album Review |website=Blues Blast |date=January 9, 2015 }}</ref>
His second effort, ''Aki Goes to Bollywood'' (2016), on blues man's Jim Pugh's Little Village Foundation label, fuses Chicago blues and Bollywood music.<ref name="SF" /><ref name="Metro" /><ref name="KQED">{{cite news |author=Kelly Whalen |url=https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/08/25/blowin-the-blues-bollywood-style-with-aki-kumar/ |title=Blowin' the Blues Bollywood-Style with Aki Kumar |publisher=KQED |location=San Francisco |date=August 25, 2016 }} Republished [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/mumbai-meets-muddy-waters-bluesy-tribute-bollywood ''Art Beat''], PBS, September 26, 2016.</ref> The cover art resembles graphics on a Bollywood movie poster.<ref name=Edmonton/> Kumar released his third album, ''Hindi Man Blues'', in 2018, and his fourth, ''Dilruba'', on Sony Music India in 2020,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-06|title=Aki Kumar talks Bollywood Blues, his Band & Life in USA|url=https://www.desiblitz.com/content/aki-kumar-talks-bollywood-blues-his-band-life-in-usa|access-date=March 20, 2021 |website=DESIblitz }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Latest Hindi Song 'Dilruba' Sung By Aki Kumar |newspaper=Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/entertainment/music/hindi/latest-hindi-song-dilruba-sung-by-aki-kumar/videoshow/70701825.cms|access-date=March 20, 2021 }}</ref> and a single, ''Zindagi'', on Little Village in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |author=Dennis McNally |url=http://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/aki-kumar-releases-new-video-zindagi |title=Aki Kumar releases new video, 'Zindagi' |website=Grateful Web |date=January 25, 2021 |access-date=May 27, 2021 }}</ref>
Kumar mainly performs around the San Francisco Bay Area with his quartet, hosts blues jams, and works as a session musician. He performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2016 and 2018.<ref name="SF" /><ref name="Metro" /><ref name="KQED" /> In late 2019 he toured in India for the first time, playing in Delhi, Gurugram, and Mumbai.<ref name="epaper.livemint.com"/>
==Personal life== {{As of|2016}}, Kumar and his wife live in the Cambrian Park neighborhood of San Jose.<ref name=Metro/>
==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) * 2020 ''Dilruba'' (Sony Music India) * 2021 "Zindagi" (single) (Little Village Foundation) * 2025 ''God Bless the USA'' (Little Village Foundation) <ref>{{Cite web|title=Aki Kumar {{!}} Album Discography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/aki-kumar-mn0002961099|access-date=2021-03-03|website=AllMusic|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Aki Kumar|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/3959478-Aki-Kumar|access-date=2021-03-03|website=Discogs|language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.akikumar.com/ Official website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Aki}} Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Mumbai Category:Blues harmonica players Category:Blues singers Category:San Jose State University alumni Category:1980 births Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:American people of Kannada descent Category:American people of Telugu descent