They're not the next of kin to The Sun Ra Arkestra nor the children of James Brown and Saraswati (the Hindu goddess of knowledge and music), but they sure look and sound like it. King Khan & The Shrines are more than a psychedelic rock and soul band with a spectacle of a stage show. They are in fact a legendary, cult musical phenomenon with more than 10 years of international touring, multiple studio records and a fan base of fervent punk, soul and garage rock heads.
Arish "King" Khan, the spiritual leader and unabashed, wildly fun front man, cobbled together a fierce line-up of musicians while in Berlin in between touring with one of his previous projects. What he ended up with in 1999 is one of the most entertaining groups the world has seen and heard since the days of Ike & Tina.
The line-up includes Chicago-born, Ron Streeter (veteran percussionist for Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and many other soul legends), a horn section consisting of trumpeter Simon Wojan (member of Kranky Records recording artists Cloudland Canyon), tenor sax man Torben Wesche (Germany's John Coltrane), and famous French rockabilly baritone saxophonist Frederic Brissaud. The rhythm section of the Sensational Shrines has been called a German/French version of the Freak Brothers – Till Timm on guitar, organist Frederic Bourdil, Jens Redemann on bass and drummer Mirko Wenzl.