| Credits: A widely-respected Sarod player who is acknowledged as one of the most accomplished of the musicians playing Indian music in the South West of England. Suitable for small stages at Indian/Asian Weddings, festivals, village halls, medium sized Arts centres etc. He can also give lecture/demonstrations, workshops, improvisation workshops. "...fantastic opportunity to experience first hand an Indian classical music performance, providing inspiration to widen their children's cultural awareness." Jilly Hillier, Marlborough Brandt Group Style: Indian Sarod Soloist and Sarod / Tabla Duet, or as a Trio including Sitar. Also available a Tabla soloist. |   
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Sarod Training:He has been performing professionally since he graduated in 1998 with a BA Hons in World Music. He took his initial training on the Sarod from Ustad Wajahat Khan in London. He is of mixed Indian and English heritage and began studying Indian music after learning Jazz and Flamenco guitar  Sarod Teaching:He teaches Sarod and other aspects of Indian music either privately or as part of a small group. Live Performances:He performs traditional North Indian Classical music on the Sarod, both solo and accompanied by the Tabla. He can bring his own PA for small venues. A raised stage and attractive carpet should be provided if possible but he can bring his own carpet if unavailable.
Recent Performances and Workshops: Storytelling with music concert, with Sarod and Tabla at The Folk House, Bristol, June 2005
Big Arts Week Improvisation workshop at Two Mile Hill Primary School, Bristol, June 2005 Bath Pavilion Global Fair, short performance and workshop with Sarod and Tabla, July 2005 Indian music performance, Sarod and Tabla, St Austell, Cornwall, World Music event, July 2005 Ashton Court Festival, Global Marquee accompanied Tabla, July 2005 Actionaid Fundraising Concert and meal, Westbury Village hall, August 2005 Luton Mela, accompanied by Tabla, September 2005 Imax Cinema, Bristol, Preview screening of 'Mystic India' film, with Tabla, October 2005 Vegan Society Gourmet Dinner accompanied by Tabla, October 2005  
Tabla Accompanists: (Sarod and Tabla Duet) Tabla Player #1: 
Born into a musical family, he took an early interest in playing the Tabla (Indian classical percussion instrument). From the age of fourteen, he was privileged to be trained by Pandit Shankar Ghosh, the renowned Tabla maestro of the Farukhabad Gharana (school). After years of dedicated apprenticeship, he emerged as an accomplished Tabla player. He graduated in classical music specialising in Tabla, from Prayag University, Allahabad. He soon became well-known within the classical music circuit both in his home city, Calcutta, and India as a whole. As well as being a successful performing artist, he is an experienced teacher - he taught at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, the premier musical institution in Calcutta, from 1975 until 1998, when he came to the UK. He has played with many famous musicians and classical dancers. He was a leading participant in the ‘Music of the Drum’ ensemble, led by its composer Pandit Shankar Ghosh.
He is not only a virtuoso Tabla player, he is equally at home in light classical and popular music. He is an adept performer of the Sarod and similar instruments. He has already built up a formidable reputation as both a teacher and performer. His skills are in great demand from all over Britain and he gives lessons in Tabla to pupils in Bath, Bristol and the surrounding area. As such, he has made a valuable contribution to the richness of the cultural life of the region. During the course of his musical career, which spans the past three decades, he has performed all over India, the sub-continent, Japan and in the UK, including concerts in Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. Tabla Player #2: He has been playing Tabla since the age of 12 and studied with Giani Arun Singh in the Punjab style. He has performed with many vocalists, working as a temple musician and travelling throughout Europe and the United States. He also sings and is learning the Sarangi. 
Promoter Quotes:"...fantastic opportunity to experience first hand an Indian classical music performance, providing inspiration to widen their children's cultural awareness." Jilly Hillier, Marlborough Brandt Group "Performed at the Mivart Open Studios event, the music was beautiful and the audience was captivated."Eddie Martin, Blues Musician and Creative Industries Mentor
Audience Quotes:"The music was absorbing, atmospheric...an enchanting evening that must be repeated!" "Subtly crafted music...the music was captivating" "The concert brought about a peaceful and happy heart and mind." About the Sarod: The Sarod is much smaller than the Sitar. It sits comfortably in the player’s lap and is leaner and cleaner in sound, without that predominant jangling of sympathetic strings. The Sarod has resonant sympathetic strings, but they are fewer and far less prominent. Still, it’s no less demanding to play. 
The sound of the Sarod as we know it today is distinctly Indian in character, but it links to the sinewy, muscular style of the Afghan Rabab - a wooden Central Asian lute, covered with skin. For a Sarod player, it’s the tone quality that’s the attraction: the skin makes the sound very human - it’s not wooden. It has flexibility, sensitivity and depth. The sound of the Sarod is dominated by the singing, vocal tone of its melodic strings. Many instrumentalists - including Violinists, Clarinettists, Sarangi and Sitar players - like to compare the sound of their instruments to the human voice. And Sarod players are no exception. One of the principal modifications of the Sarod from the Afghan Rabab is its long metal fingerboard, which allows slides between the melody notes. This is something you can’t do on fretted instruments. This is a big advantage of the Sarod over the Sitar. On the Sitar you have to pull the string sideways to create the slides. And you can’t pull that far - not more than 3 or 4 notes. But on the Sarod you can slide over 7 notes or more, skating up the fingerboard The strings are not plucked with the fingers, but with a java or coconut-shell plectrum. This plectrum can be a hammer or a feather, you can play very loud, or give it just a feather touch, skimming gently across the strings. The range of colours that a player can get out of the instrument is quite incredible and is certainly why it’s found such an important role in classical Indian instrumental music. There are two schools of Sarod playing – one in which the strings are stopped by the fingertips and the other in which the strings are stopped by the finger-nails of the left hand. This is what makes the clear ringing sound and is one of the things that make it rather demanding to play. About the tabla: The tabla are a pair of hollow drums originating from India. The Bass drum is called the Bayya or Dugga. It is made out of a metal (usually copper) shell, leather head (puddi) and leather straps (vaadi). The leather head has an inner circle (black in colour) called the syahi.The syahi is made out of iron fillings powder and rice paste. The straps are tightened to cause tension to the head therefore producing a higher pitch on the drum. Obviously slackening the straps will cause the drum to lower in pitch. The Treble drum is called the Dahina or Tabla. It is made out of wood. The skin and straps are of the same material as the Bayya. *Bayya means "left" in the Hindi Language and Indian dialects * Dahina means "right" in the Hindi Language |
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