Embodying a unique musical talent honed over countless generations, Rahis Ahmed Khan has performed all over the United States, India, Europe, and the United Arab Emirates before live audiences, on radio, and on television. His father, Ustad Azis Khan, was a renowned singer on All India Radio; all three of his talented brothers are successful musicians in India, and no one in his family recalls any ancestor pursuing calling other than music for eight generations, whether it is singing ghazals, or playing instruments such sarangi, tabla, harmonium, or sarod.
Rahis began to train in Rajasthani folk songs and ghazals in Udaipur, India,
under his father in 1977, when he was five years old. Precocious and talented, he began performing on All India Radio at the age of seven as the lead singer on a kids program, and soon, was singing for adult audiences as a teenager. Around the age of fourteen, he began to learn tabla because his father believed that the
best ghazal singers must learn the taal (or rhythm) of the tabla to improve their
sur (or melody). As a result, Rahis is one of those rare musicians who both
excels at playing the tabla and singing ghazals.
A gifted artist and consummate entertainer, Rahis reads his audience intuitively, and is able to switch from classical, obscure ghazals to old movie songs and pop favorites, as necessary. Among a few highlights of his career are his performances in an MTV video with George Harrison of Beatles fame; his collaboration with Angel Romero on a CD titled %u201CRemembering The Future;%u201D his performance with the country rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno; his invitation to perform at the White House for the Indian President%u2019s visit; his release in 2003 and 2010 of two solo CD albums on which he recorded several of his own, his elder brother, and his late father%u2019s original compositions; and his live performances all over the world with the likes of Ghulaam Ali Saheb, Pervez Mehndi, Anoop Jalota, Ustad Abdul Sattar Tari, Ustad Rais Khan, and Shabber Hussein.
No stranger to fans, fame, and accolades, Rahis remains proudest of imparting his love of music to countless students through the Rahis Khan School of Music. He lives in San Diego, California with his wife and son, and finds time to participate in cultural outreach, organize musical gatherings, teach, and perform at artistic events around town when he is not busy traveling around the country for solo live performances and collaborative concerts.
