“An airborne amalgam of cross-continental pollinations”
Songlines Magazine
New Single
ABHAYAM (Without fear)
FT. DEEPA SHAKTHI
Our second single featuring Deepa Shakthi, this moody track brings together a portishead inspired groove with the darkly-jazzy harmonic possibilities of the Indian classical raag Shree. This is the first track we've released featuring our wonderful clarinet player Alex Lyon on lead vocals.
Who is MIshra?
We formed in 2018 as a creative partnership between Kate Griffin and Ford Collier
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The University of Sheffield was where we discovered a shared fascination of UK folk music and Indian Classical, and exploring the boundaries of our creative abilities.
We perform sometimes as a duo, and sometimes as a quintet where are joined by a collective of amazing musicians we met in Sheffield who share our passion for the creative possibilities of Indian classical music meeting UK folk.
Ford Collier
low whistle,
percussion, guitar
Kate Griffin
banjo, vocals, dobro, guitar
John Ball: tabla, santoor
John is a deeply dedicated musician and teacher, who also plays in Rafiki Jazz amongst other projects. He runs the Sheffield University Indian Music Ensemble, which gave everyone in Mishra their first real introduction to Indian music, and where he shares some of the experience he has gained in 20 years of Indian music study. He is also still teaching most of the band to play tabla. His favourite vegetable is aubergine and he supports Sheffield F.C.
Joss Mann-Hazell: double bass
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Joss is a remarkably versatile multi-instrumentalist, who only gets to play double bass in Mishra but plays a mind boggling array of other instruments when given half the chance. He is a fluent improviser in jazz, folk, and beyond, and also writes beautiful music with his band Auka. If you drop him anywhere in the wilderness he can probably find you an edible mushroom.
Alex Lyon: clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals
Alex started playing with us when we recorded our second album Reclaim, but we're not sure why it took us so long to get her involved. She's doing a masters in performance at Trinity Laban, has serious classical clarinet chops, and combines that with an open-minded curiosity and drive to learn new things that has lead her to a passion for Indian music. On top of that, she has an amazingly soulful voice and a pinpoint-precision ear for harmonies. Alex shares her garden with a family of friendly foxes.