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.
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Hailing from the heart of New York City, Falsa is a vibrant ensemble of diverse improvisational musicians. Anchored in the mystic traditions of 14th-century Sufi music—akin to the elevating poetry of Rumi—the group serves up an eclectic blend of minimalist meditation, raga jazz fusion, high-energy world improvisation, and immersive ritual-communitas performances featuring dancers and captivating visuals. But at its heart, Falsa is dedicated to normalizing the transcendent experience through music.
The band's name, 'Falsa,' draws from a deeply personal and mystical narrative. Named after a tropical berry native to India and Pakistan, 'Falsa' represents the Sufi concept of longing for union—a theme that lead vocalist Umer has intimately experienced. After a decade-long separation from Pakistan due to intricate immigration bureaucracies, Umer's eventual return was marked by a poignant realization. Tasting the 'falsa' fruit again broke through the emotional barriers he had built and brought him face-to-face with the truth: "Home is something you cannot take with you, you have to return to it."
By weaving this narrative into their music, Falsa illuminates the magical aspects of experience that aren't acquisitions but gifts. In the world of Falsa, Sufi music isn't a means to an end, but a journey towards meaning and transcendence.