Alisha Sufit
Encyclopedia
Alisha Sufit is best known as the singer-songwriter with the 1970s band Magic Carpet
. She is also a visual artist and poet.
She was a pupil at the Arts Educational Schools, London, where she studied dance and drama. Later she attended Chelsea College of Art, London
, and the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris
, France
. On leaving art school she began playing guitar
and writing her own songs, performing in clubs and colleges around the UK. Her repertoire consisted of her own compositions plus traditional and contemporary folk songs, self-accompanied on acoustic guitar and Appalachian dulcimer
.
In 1971 Alisha Sufit joined with ex Chelsea College of Art fellow student Jim Moyes plus two musical friends to form the psychedelic
progressive
folk-rock band Magic Carpet. The line-up consisted of Alisha (vocals, guitar), Clem Alford (sitar
, esraj
, tamboura), Jim Moyes (guitar) and Keshav Sathe
(tabla
, Indian percussion). The band made one eponymous album, Magic Carpet, described as "one of the finest Indian-influenced psychedelic folk albums of the 1970s". After a launch at the 100 Club
in London, a performance at Cleo Laine
and Johnny Dankworth's Wavendon
, radio airplay on Pete Drummond's Sounds of the Seventies
on BBC Radio
, plus several club and festival appearances, the group disbanded in 1972.
During the 1970s and 1980s Alisha Sufit played as supporting artiste alongside numerous musicians of the era including The Enid
, Fairport Convention
, Terry Reid
, the guitarist Davey Graham
(also known as Davy Graham), the Incredible String Band
, amongst others. She was invited to appear at the Incredible String Band's I.S.B. Convention concert in Leeds
in 1994.
By the 1980s Sufit was developing a repertoire of jazz standards and also writing her own jazz-oriented compositions. She made numerous performances accompanied by such musicians as Peter Ind
(bass), Pete Sabberton (piano), Chucho Merchan
(bass), Nick Weldon (piano), Dave McCrae (piano). The Magic Carpet album began to receive acclaim some 15 years after its release, the original LP now a sought-after collectable on the international vinyl market, currently re-released on CD by the Magic Carpet Records label. It was also reissued on EMI heavyweight vinyl, a signed limited edition that quickly sold out.
Sufit continues to work and write, with a catalogue of more than 200 songs. In 1993 she released the album Alisha Through the Looking Glass, on both CD and heavy-weight EMI audiophile vinyl formats. The album consists of 12 songs with instrumental contributions by Ray Warleigh
on saxophone, Bernard O’Neill on bass, Magic Carpet percussionist Keshav Sathe
on tabla, Mamadi Kamara on congas and percussion, Chris Haigh on fiddle and Alan Dunn on accordion. In 1994 Alisha Sufit released the album Love And The Maiden, a signed limited edition CD collection of her early recordings with sleeve notes by UK guitarist Davey Graham
.
In 1996, Magic Carpet sitarist Clem Alford and Alisha Sufit collaborated again to record the album Once Moor, subtitled Magic Carpet II, featured in Sound On Sound magazine. In 1999 she contributed two tracks to the compilation album Women Of Heart and Mind, a collaboration of women singer-songwriters, and in 2005 she was included in the compilation album Many Bright Things, contributing her own composition Silver Witch, accompanied on mandolin and bass by Frank Defina.
In 2008 Alisha Sufit's song The Phoenix, from the Magic Carpet LP originally released in 1972, was included in the double CD album A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding In Your Mind) released by Platipus Records and compiled by FSOL and The Amorphous Androgynous. The album was highly praised in the media by Noel Gallagher
of Oasis
who invited Gaz Cobain and Brian Dougans
of FSOL to remix the Oasis single Falling Down. Alisha Sufit appeared as featured vocalist on the track.
She also joined the live band The Amorphous Androgynous for performances in Kazan
and Moscow
in 2008, and in Kiev
and at the Green Man
and Electric Picnic
festivals in 2009.
Alisha Sufit recorded The Beatles
song Let It Be
with The Amorphous Androgynous band for the commemorative anniversary album, Let It Be Revisited, released with Mojo
magazine October 2010.
Compilations:
Featured vocals:
Magic Carpet (band)
Magic Carpet was a pioneering Anglo-Indian United Kingdom band of musicians that first appeared in the early 1970s.The band members were Clem Alford, sitar; Alisha Sufit, voice and guitar; Jim Moyes, guitar; and Keshav Sathe, Indian tabla percussion...
. She is also a visual artist and poet.
She was a pupil at the Arts Educational Schools, London, where she studied dance and drama. Later she attended Chelsea College of Art, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. On leaving art school she began playing guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and writing her own songs, performing in clubs and colleges around the UK. Her repertoire consisted of her own compositions plus traditional and contemporary folk songs, self-accompanied on acoustic guitar and Appalachian dulcimer
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
.
In 1971 Alisha Sufit joined with ex Chelsea College of Art fellow student Jim Moyes plus two musical friends to form the psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
folk-rock band Magic Carpet. The line-up consisted of Alisha (vocals, guitar), Clem Alford (sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, esraj
Esraj
The esraj is a string instrument found in two forms throughout the north, central, and east regions of India. It is a young instrument by Indian terms, being only about 200 years old. The dilruba is found in the north, where it is used in religious music and light classical songs in the urban areas...
, tamboura), Jim Moyes (guitar) and Keshav Sathe
Keshav Sathe
Keshav Sathe is an Indian tabla player, best-known for his contributions to the Indo-Jazz Fusion genre. Among his significant collaborations er the ones with Joe Harriott and John Mayer in 1965-70; Irene Schweizer trio, Barney Wilen and Manfred Schoof in 1967; and later work with John Renbourn,...
(tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
, Indian percussion). The band made one eponymous album, Magic Carpet, described as "one of the finest Indian-influenced psychedelic folk albums of the 1970s". After a launch at the 100 Club
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue in London situated at 100 Oxford Street, W1, originally called The Feldman Swing Club.The 100 Club attained legendary status in modern British music, having played host to live music since 24 October 1942....
in London, a performance at Cleo Laine
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
and Johnny Dankworth's Wavendon
Wavendon
Wavendon is a village and civil parish in the south east of the Borough of Milton Keynes and ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village name is an Old English language word, and means 'Wafa's hill'. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 969 the village was recorded as Wafandun. The...
, radio airplay on Pete Drummond's Sounds of the Seventies
Sounds of the Seventies
Sounds of the Seventies was a BBC radio programme broadcast on weekdays, 22:00-00:00, on Radio One during the early 1970s. Among the DJs were Alan Black, Pete Drummond, Anne Nightingale, John Peel , and Bob Harris...
on BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, plus several club and festival appearances, the group disbanded in 1972.
During the 1970s and 1980s Alisha Sufit played as supporting artiste alongside numerous musicians of the era including The Enid
The Enid
The Enid is a British rock band founded in 1975 by Robert John Godfrey, Stephen Stewart and Francis Lickerish. Another early member was William Gilmour, who subsequently founded his own band Craft and now plays keyboards in Lickerish's band Secret Green....
, Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, Terry Reid
Terry Reid
Terry Reid is an English rock vocalist and guitarist. He has performed with high profile musicians, as a supporting act, a session musician, and sideman.- History :...
, the guitarist Davey Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
(also known as Davy Graham), the Incredible String Band
Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974...
, amongst others. She was invited to appear at the Incredible String Band's I.S.B. Convention concert in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
in 1994.
By the 1980s Sufit was developing a repertoire of jazz standards and also writing her own jazz-oriented compositions. She made numerous performances accompanied by such musicians as Peter Ind
Peter Ind
Peter Ind is a British jazz double-bassist and record producer.Ind began playing professionally in the late 1940s, including being part of the 'house band' on the ship Queen Mary from 1949 to 1951. He relocated to New York City in 1951, where he played with Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz , Buddy...
(bass), Pete Sabberton (piano), Chucho Merchan
Chucho Merchan
Chucho Merchan is a session jazz bassist and guitarist. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Cambridge University in 1980....
(bass), Nick Weldon (piano), Dave McCrae (piano). The Magic Carpet album began to receive acclaim some 15 years after its release, the original LP now a sought-after collectable on the international vinyl market, currently re-released on CD by the Magic Carpet Records label. It was also reissued on EMI heavyweight vinyl, a signed limited edition that quickly sold out.
Sufit continues to work and write, with a catalogue of more than 200 songs. In 1993 she released the album Alisha Through the Looking Glass, on both CD and heavy-weight EMI audiophile vinyl formats. The album consists of 12 songs with instrumental contributions by Ray Warleigh
Ray Warleigh
Raymond 'Ray' Kenneth Warleigh , is a leading UK-based alto saxophonist and flautist...
on saxophone, Bernard O’Neill on bass, Magic Carpet percussionist Keshav Sathe
Keshav Sathe
Keshav Sathe is an Indian tabla player, best-known for his contributions to the Indo-Jazz Fusion genre. Among his significant collaborations er the ones with Joe Harriott and John Mayer in 1965-70; Irene Schweizer trio, Barney Wilen and Manfred Schoof in 1967; and later work with John Renbourn,...
on tabla, Mamadi Kamara on congas and percussion, Chris Haigh on fiddle and Alan Dunn on accordion. In 1994 Alisha Sufit released the album Love And The Maiden, a signed limited edition CD collection of her early recordings with sleeve notes by UK guitarist Davey Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
.
In 1996, Magic Carpet sitarist Clem Alford and Alisha Sufit collaborated again to record the album Once Moor, subtitled Magic Carpet II, featured in Sound On Sound magazine. In 1999 she contributed two tracks to the compilation album Women Of Heart and Mind, a collaboration of women singer-songwriters, and in 2005 she was included in the compilation album Many Bright Things, contributing her own composition Silver Witch, accompanied on mandolin and bass by Frank Defina.
In 2008 Alisha Sufit's song The Phoenix, from the Magic Carpet LP originally released in 1972, was included in the double CD album A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding In Your Mind) released by Platipus Records and compiled by FSOL and The Amorphous Androgynous. The album was highly praised in the media by Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
who invited Gaz Cobain and Brian Dougans
Brian Dougans
Brian Dougans is one half of the British electronica group, The Future Sound of London.He is a "man of many thoughts and few words" almost always letting Cobain take the lead in interviews with them both...
of FSOL to remix the Oasis single Falling Down. Alisha Sufit appeared as featured vocalist on the track.
She also joined the live band The Amorphous Androgynous for performances in Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 2008, and in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and at the Green Man
Green Man Festival
The Green Man Festival is an independent music festival held annually in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. It has evolved from a one-day, 300 capacity event in 2003, to a three-day festival with live music including psych, folk, indie, dance and Americana across five stages, as well as DJs playing...
and Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic 2009
Electric Picnic 2009 was the sixth edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday September 4, Saturday September 5 and Sunday September 6 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland...
festivals in 2009.
Alisha Sufit recorded The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song Let It Be
Let It Be (song)
"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band...
with The Amorphous Androgynous band for the commemorative anniversary album, Let It Be Revisited, released with Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine October 2010.
Discography
- Magic Carpet
- Love and the Maiden
- Alisha Through the Looking Glass
- Once Moor (Magic Carpet II)
- Alisha's Cellar (forthcoming as at June 2007)
Compilations:
- Women of Heart and Mind
- Many Bright Friends
- A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding In Your Mind) (2008)
Featured vocals:
- Falling Down - Oasis, a Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble - remix by The Amorphous Androgynous (2009)
- Let It Be – by Paul McCartney, arranged by The Amorphous Androgynous
External links
- Magic Carpet Records at MagicCarpetRecords.com