New York-based musician Falguni Shah, better known as Falu, is set to release her upcoming album “Foras Road,” May 28. Produced by Grammy-award winning producer Danny Blume, “Foras Road,” refers to the Mumbai’s oldest red-light district and traverses the musical traditions and cultural history of India's centuries-old brothels, according to a press release. Falu sings in seven South Asian languages throughout the album, blending Indian classical and folk music with her own original compositions and adding modern instrumentation. The album was recorded partly in India with some South Asian musicians, and partly with her band at Blume’s studios in upstate New York, the release said.  Talking about her song “Ghumar,” which premiered on The Huffington Post on May 7, Falu says Ghumar is a type of fancy dress worn in the state of Rajasthan and the song, in Rajasthani, celebrates the fact that a girl is finally attaining womanhood.

The mastermind of a $29.1 million Medicare fraud scheme allegedly involving approximately 30 medical clinics pleaded guilty May 3 in Detroit, MI for his role in the scheme.Sachin Sharma, 37, of Detroit, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denise P. Hood in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of tax evasion.  The guilty plea was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and other top law enforcement officials involved in the investigation at both federal and state level.  Court documents allege that between 2007 and 2012, Sharma created and/or operated companies which submitted approximately $29.1 million in claims to Medicare for services that were not medically necessary and/or not provided.Sharma’s sentencing is scheduled for August 8, and he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

– CHICAGO, Ill. Bollywood playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan and Pakistani singer and actor Ali Zafar rocked the Sears Centre Arena here April 26. The duo entertained the audience for more than three hours, organizers said in a press release. The concert, titled “Krazy 2,” was co-hosted by Saahil Exclusive and L.A. Tan. Chauhan sang her popular songs including “Halkat Jawani” from “Heroine” and “Disco Deewane” from “Student of the Year” She also paid a special tribute to legends Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle with a medley of their evergreen hits.Zafar, who is on his maiden concert tour in the United States, sang songs like “Madhubala” from "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” and popular numbers from “Tere Bin Laden,” “London Paris New York” and his non-film songs like “Channo,” "Jhoom," "Masty," "Huqa Pani" and others.Each performer was accompanied by a separate orchestra comprising of 21 musicians, the release said. 

– ELIZABETH, N.J. A leaner and energetic Adnan Sami captivated New Jersey audience with his soulful renditions as well as foot-tapping numbers at a concert held April 6 at the Ritz Theater here.   Sami reutrned to the U.S. after an eight-year hiatus. The concert commenced with a solo performance from Darshana Menon, winner of “Zee SaReGaMaPa USA 2008,” who set the mood for the evening rendering popular Bollywood numbers like “Udi” from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Guzaarish,” and “Bahara” from the movie “I Hate Love Stories.” Sami commanded the stage and interacted with the audience the moment he entered the stage dressed in all black. Always engaging the audience, moving all across the stage, Sami presented fusion compositions with his musicians, as he instructed them on which beat to play with a mere gesture of his hand.

New York audience will get a chance to experience Amar Muchhala’s singing when the opera “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” plays at the New Victory Theater next month.  Based on a novel by Philip Pullman, “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” had its world premiere at Hull Truck in Yorkshire March 23. Presented by the Metropolis Ensemble and led by Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr, the opera by David Bruce and Glyn Maxwell will tour the UK including two weeks at the Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House in April, before coming to the U.S., Muchhala told News India Times on phone from London .  The .35-year-old Tenor, who grew up in Mumbai, has been living in London for the past eight years. “The Firework Maker’s Daughter” features an internationally-inspired score by David Bruce and a witty libretto by Maxwell and a cast of five artists who enliven shadow puppets from Cambridge, England’s Indefinite Articles, the opera website said.

– FORDS, N.J. Gone are the days when going to a Adnan Sami show meant watching the overweight singer perched at a piano rendering his soulful ballads. Now fans can experience the singer, composer and songwriter move across the stage and groove to his songs. The 43-year-old singer is currently touring North America and promises his fans that the concert tour will be “one of a kind.” The tour will feature many of Sami’s non-film songs, including the popular “Roya,” from his new album “Press Play,” but the highlight of the show will be the star himself. Now, 253 lbs lighter, the singer, composer and song-writer says he’s all set to rock his fans. Sami, who landed in New York the same day as the press meet, arrived at the venue almost three hours late. Apologizing for the delay, Sami went straight on the dais and provided details of the concert. He said audience can expect a good mix of both non-film as well as film songs and extended the invitation to all his fans to come and enjoy the show.

Students from Afghanistan's only music academy brought the war-torn country's rhythms to the State Department on Monday as part of their first U.S. tour, with brand-new Secretary John Kerry recalling his rock roots for the musicians. The tour by the 48 musicians from the Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM) will include performances on Thursday at Washington's Kennedy Center and next week at New York's Carnegie Hall. Organizers said the visit by the musicians ages 10 to 22, many of them orphans or street children, was aimed at improving Afghanistan's image after more than a decade of fighting between U.S.-led forces and the Taliban. "The major objective of the trip is to change the perception of Afghanistan, to show the public the ... positive changes that are most of the time overlooked or (hidden) behind the violence, the roadside bombings," ANIM head Ahmad Sarmast told Reuters.

Two Indian-American college students from Maryland and Michigan could be well on their way to becoming the next American Idol. Gurpreet Singh Sarin, 22, from Potomac, Md., and Shubha Vedula, 17, from Great Plaines, Mich., were among 40 contestants who advanced to the nest round.  Now Vedula and Sarin will compete for the top 20 spot in the auditions to be held in Las Vegas, Nev., where contestants will perform in front of a live audience.  This will also be the first time they will be judged by an audience poll. In the solo round during Hollywood week on Feb. 14, Vadula, dressed in a simple silver gown, performed a cover of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s “When You Believe.” At the California auditions aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Vedula performed in front of only two judges out of the four as Mariah Carey was stuck in Los Angeles traffic and Nicki Minaj had a prior engagement.

Sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar posthumously won the Grammy for best world music album on Sunday, beating his daughter Anoushka and three other nominees on the music industry's biggest night. Shankar, who died in December at 92, won his fourth Grammy with the album "The Living Room Sessions Part 1". Sitar player Anoushka had been nominated in the same category for her album "Traveller". Shankar, who helped introduce the sitar to the Western world through his collaboration with The Beatles, was honoured with a lifetime achievement accolade on the eve of Sunday's Grammy awards in Los Angeles. Shankar's daughters, Anoushka and Grammy-winning singer Norah Jones, accepted the lifetime award. "When I watched him play, he could take people to this incredible meditative state where they'd close their eyes and just cry and get in touch with something more important," Anoushka said.

– CHICAGO The Chicago Children’s Choir left on Jan. 24 for a 10-day tour of India. The 45 singers from the world-renowned concert choir were to perform at the Jaipur Literature Festival, at the U.S. Embassy in Delhi, as well as in Chennai and Bangalore, among other venues. The performances will feature selections from the choir’s diverse repertoire spanning classical, world, gospel and popular music, as well as the following items from the musical “Sita Ram,” based on the Ramayana: “Siya Ram” (the opening number), “Open Up Your Heart” and Om Shanti, according to a press release. The choir is directed by President and Artistic Director Josephine Lee.  Performances were also scheduled at India Islamic Cultural Center in Delhi on Jan. 26, followed by the Jaipur Literature Festival on Jan. 27, Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall in Chennai on Jan. 31, and the Bishop Cotton Boys School in Bangalore on Feb. 2.