London based DJ and multi-instrumentalist Bisha could soon be rocking your world, musically. The musician, born to Bengali parents and recently turned 24, has just released her debut album: Nights at the Circus.

There is much undergound hype surrounding this young lady, much of it unsurprising given her debut single: Never Seen Your Face, is brilliant. See the video below. Though, we prefer the bass-laden live performance viewable here. Another good performance of the same track is here.

According to the biography on her website, she was born in Earls Court to a musical family; her mother is still an EMI signed artist. She has studied Sitar at The Ravi Shankar School for Music and has a passion for English & East European folk, progressive pop & electronica. Her inspirations: Ananda Shankar, Wendy Carlos, Vashti Bunyan and Bjork.

She will also feature on Desi DNA tonight on BBC2 at 11:20pm.
[Hat tip: the New York based gossip site Daily Cherez]

Check out:
Her website / Her myspace page

In a hard-hitting speech to the Royal Television Society last week, the comedian Lenny Henry said broadcasters needed to do more to encourage ethnic diversity. He said:

When I started, I was surrounded by a predominantly white workforce. Thirty-two years later, not a lot has changed,” he said in a speech to the Royal Television Society.

How many black British comedians are working on mainstream TV today? One? Two? Ethnic minorities are pitifully under-served. Is there anybody going out to the comedy clubs with their diversity goggles on? Are the researchers casting their net far and wide? This is an area that needs a massive kick up the bum.

This comes not long after BBC’s internal statistics showed that the number of ethnic minorities it employs has fallen slightly recently. That doesn’t even take into account the situation at the top. Yesterday, respected producer Samir Shah, also a BBC non-executive director, said the corporation needed to do more. He said:

The BBC is the most significant player in British broadcasting … and it needs to make a shift because its performance at senior management level is dire, absolutely dire.

Thirty years after Lenny came into the business, there is not one black person, not one Asian person good enough to be a [channel] controller. It is an outrage and I think Lenny’s call for affirmative action is the least we can do.

Some years ago the BBC had about 300 diversity initiatives, but it’s the outcome that matters. We now need to put in place some serious enforcements if we are not to have another speech in another 10 years.

In response the BBC head of diversity, Andrea Callender, told the in-house magazine Ariel that a three-year mentoring scheme for minorities was being put in place. The mentoring scheme will be no quick fix,” she said. “But in three years I would expect participants to feel their careers had been enhanced and mentors to feel they had a wider pool of talent to draw on.”

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The Dhol Foundation returns with a third album next month, featuring an array of vocalists, instruments and sounds. The album, titled Drums & Roses, has been written by the group’s founder Johnny Kalsi.

He says: “This album has been a release of lots of manifested emotions and feelings I have cooped up. A real weight off my shoulders and a well deserved trophy at the end of it all.” After starting out with the bhangra band Alaap, Kalsi moved on to join and tour with World Music bands from across the globe. In 1989 he launched the Dhol Foundation academy, which has since grown to around 400 students in locations across Britain.

Drums & Roses releases on 17 March 2008 via TDF Records.
Media contact: Pedro Carvalho at FNIK PR: pedro@ethnicnow.com.
www.dholfoundation.com / myspace.com/thedholfoundation