Kabir Sehgal

Education

Sehgal was born in Atlanta, Georgia and attended The Lovett School. He attended Dartmouth College and was a staff columnist for the university newspaper The Dartmouth, bassist for the university jazz band, and a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He completed his postgraduate degree with distinction from the London School of Economics as a Reynolds Scholar.

Career

Sehgal works in corporate strategy at First Data Corporation, a global payments firm, which completed the largest initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2015. Previously, Sehgal was a vice president at J.P. Morgan in the emerging markets equities group, where he helped place the Alibaba initial public offering, the largest in history. He began his career by starting an online education company in India with a friend, but it failed.

Literary career

Sehgal published his first book, Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology in 2008. Jazzocracy explores the relationship between jazz music and the concept of democracy. He drew upon his experiences serving on the John Kerry presidential campaign and touring with Grammy-winner Wynton Marsalis. The book was later the inspiration for a university course at Baruch College. The book later served as the basis for a TED Talk.

In May 2010, Sehgal's Walk in My Shoes: Conversations between a Civil Rights Legend and his Godson on the Journey Ahead was published by Palgrave Macmillan. The book is co-written by former Mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young, his godfather, who offers his thoughts on leadership, civil rights, love and faith, among other topics. President Bill Clinton wrote the foreword to the book.

Sehgal's book A Bucket of Blessings was published by Simon & Schuster on April 29, 2014 and reached the New York Times best sellers list. A children's book, it chronicles the story of Monkey, a character who tries to bring water to his village at a time of drought, but fails when water leaks out of the bottom of his bucket on his journey. The foreword to the book was written by Maya Angelou. The book was adapted for a stage production at the Alliance Theatre, which ran from January to February 2016.

His book, Coined: The Rich Life of Money and How Its History Has Shaped Us, was published on March 10, 2015 and was one of Business Insider's top 15 business books coming out in 2015. It examines how and why money has come to play such a central role in everyday life. Topics such as the neuroscience of money behavior and the archaeology of coinage are also examined from and anthropological and historical perspective. With regard to digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Seghal writes in Coined that it is unlikely they will gain traction as an alternative to the U.S. dollar given U.S. government's power to determine what is a currency.

In March 2015, Coined became a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller. The New York Times said of Coined, "If you’ve been waiting for an economic version of 'Eat, Pray, Love,' this may be it." The Financial Times called Coined, "An eclectic and sometimes personal inquiry into the roots of finance takes in everything from Galápagos turtles to Apple Pay."

His children’s book The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk was published by Simon & Schuster in January 2016. Publishers Weekly described the book as, "a wonderfully accessible introduction to daily life in another place."

Sehgal has also written for Foreign Policy, Harvard Business Review, MarketWatch, New York Observer, Quartz, Zero Hedge, Atlanta Business Chronicle, CNBC and The Street and has appeared on CNN, PBS, NPR, Bloomberg, Fox News, CNBC, C-SPAN and Fusion. He co-founded the journal of information systems at the London School of Economics.

Music

Sehgal is a jazz bassist, composer and Grammy winning producer. He has produced albums for Arturo O'Farrill, Ted Nash, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Gabriel Alegria, Gregorio Uribe and others. He has won two Grammys and a Latin Grammy award as a producer. His productions have garnered 8 nominations and 5 wins across the Grammys and Latin Grammys.

He was the executive producer, producer, and liner notes author for Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's "The Offense of the Drum," which won the Grammy for the Best Latin Jazz Album and the 2015 Cubadisco for Best International Album. It was also nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album.

In December 2014, Sehgal and O’Farrill led a delegation to Havana to record Cuba: The Conversation Continues. The album was released in August 2015, with Sehgal serving as the executive producer, liner notes author, and an artistic producer. The New York Times reviewed the album, “an album worthy of its moment, an ambitious statement that honors deeply held musical traditions while pushing forward.” The album was voted the best Latin Jazz album of the year by an NPR critics poll and was nominated for the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. A selection on the album “The Afro Latin Jazz Suite” won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition.

Sehgal served as executive producer and artistic producer of Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom by Ted Nash that was featured in The New Yorker’s ‘Talk of the Town.’ The recording features several notable figures such as Andrew Young, Glenn Close, and Sam Waterston reading historical speeches. Sehgal also wrote the liner notes with Douglas Brinkley. The album won the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. The JazzTimes said that during his acceptance speech, “Sehgal gracefully pushed back against the current administration." "While one president says, ‘Build a wall,'” Sehgal said, “another said, ‘Tear this wall down.'” In addition, a selection on the album “Spoken at Midnight” won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition.

Sehgal is currently writing an opera.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Sehgal co-founded Music for Tomorrow (MFT), a non-profit organization that initially raised money to help musicians return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Eventually, the organization became an online band booking service that people used to book jazz musicians in various cities across America while generating voluntary “tips” to help New Orleans-based charities. In 2014, MFT merged with the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance.

He serves on the advisory board of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Military service

Sehgal is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He served on active duty with special operations in the Middle East and received a Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Selected Discography