Bonus Video: Interview with Fareed Haque included as Computer Interactive Section of this CD, discussing his guitar techniques, includes clips of The Fareed Haque Group live.



The Fareed Haque Group:

Fareed Haque - Electric Guitar, Steel String Guitar, Classical Guitar, Sitar Guitar, Keyboards
Kalyan Pathak - Tabla, Percussion, Voice
Jon Paul - Bass Guitar
Dan Leali - Drums
Dan Nimmer - Fender Rhodes, Electric Piano
J. Cappo - Keyboards and Electronics


There are guitar players, and then there are guitar players. Fareed Haque is of the later category, a virtuoso. Fareed enjoys a career that spans the spectrum of musical styles.
And to say that he kills it on the six-string, would be an immense understatement: he plays acoustic and electric guitar, sitar and even plays a hybrid guitar/sitar. The Fareed Haque Group, equipped with a DJ and a tabla player, has been described as a "tantric meditation." With diverse cultural and musical influences, Fareed Haque Group is opening new doors
with a completely fresh approach to cosmic music that grooves.

Moving easily between jazz and classical guitar, Fareed's versatility has created a demand for him with prominent jazz and classical artists including Medeski, Martin and Wood, Sting, Joe Zawinul, Cassandra Wilson, Leste Bowie, Dave Holland, Robert Walter, Carl Denson, Kahil el Zabar, Defunckt, and Ramsey Lewis. Born in 1963 to Pakistani father and Chilean mother, extensive travels, especially long stays in Spain, France, Iran, Pakistan and Chile, exposed Haque to different musics from a very early age. This natural eclecticism has become the hallmark of Fareed's music.

Cosmic Hug is an unique combination of world, jazz, and jam. Earthy, vital, breezy, electric, and truly eclectic, Cosmic Hug defies easy categorization. The Fareed Haque Group have a sound that will appeal to many while compromising to no one. The Cosmic Hug CD also includes a bonus interactive section including an interview with Fareed Haque discussing his guitar techniques, as well as clips of the Fareed Haque Group performing live.

Around early the 90’s Fareed Haque Group was formed by Fareed to explore and incorporate all of his various musical influences into one compositional platform; to play music that can spring from and weave through jazz, classical, Latin, funk; as well as African and Indian music sensitivities, modern, hip-hop, trance and folk grooves. Since 2000 Fareed Haque Group has been one of the most active and cutting edge bands in the jamband an improvised music scene. They have recorded and toured extensively around the country, creating a very unique presence in various musical festivals including the High Sierra Mountain Music Festival 2003.

In 2001, Fareed co-founded the jam super-group Garaj Mahal; and since has joined George Brooks' group Summit, featuring Zakir Hussein and Steve Smith; as well as recording and touring with the Fareed Haque Group.

He has performed all of the major guitar concertos, is an active transcriber of baroque as well as South American music and has had numerous modern works dedicated to him.