Indian classical music forms the core of tabla player Bickram Ghosh’s oeuvre. He speaks to Saritha Saraswathy Balan about his latest album maya which is being released in India today
Maya — the latest album by tabla player Bickram Ghosh views the world as an illusion and hence the title. It’s spiritual in content, with the songs deeper and slower. The album shares it’s base with Indian classical music, ragas and taal. Dedicated to Pandit Ravi Shankar who was both Guru and father-figure to Bickram, the album features around 30 renowned musicians from across the globe. We have Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Sonu Majumdar among others from India, while Western musicians include Brian Ritchie and Darren Philips. The album that was released in the US on November 11 is being launched in India today.
Bickram says that Ravi Shankar was a great influence on him which made him to dedicate the album to the legend. “I first met Raviji in 1993 when I was in Brussels. I was with other musicians and he heard me playing. He asked me to play with him the next day and it was magical. That is how it began and I played with him for long 12 years,” he says.
His association with Ravi Shankar was so rhythmic that Bickram, during a concert, stopped playing once the maestro did that. “I stopped with him, I was not prepared for that though; that clinched my association with him. He then looked at his wife Sukanyaji among the audience and at me saying kya bat hai (waah). That was a huge moment and that made me connected with him more,” he says. He recalls another incident in which Ravi Shankar began the concert without announcing the raga. “Raviji loved challenges and found great fun in it. He used to challenge me as well. I realised the raga and I played that,” he says.
Coming to his association with Beatles legend George Harrison he says: “George and I have met for the first time in 1996. In 1999, when I was in london I got a call from him. He said that he was recording an album and he wanted me to play for the title track of it. I was completely floored. The album was his last one -Brainwashed, which won the Grammy award. George used to call me the Prince of Tabla . I had the great fortune of knowing him both as a musician and as a person. He was very spiritual. I also had the honour of being the prime percussionist on Raviji's famed collaboration with George : The Chants of India”.
Son of Pandit Shankar Ghosh, carrying the legacy of his father is the most important thing for Bickram: “I learned from my father, major chunk of my knowledge came from him. I have a strong South Indian influence in my music, which I acquired from my father, right from my playing to musical composition. I tried my best to follow my father in tabla playing, be it solo or group. I play a lot of tabla solos in different taalas which my father used to play: there is nasruk, which is in nine beats and chaar taal ki sawari which is in 11 beats to a name a few.”
Bickram is currently composing music for Girish Malik’s upcoming Hindi film Band of Maharajas in which he will be acting as well. “I also have several fusion projects in the line up. There are two Bengali and a Hindi film for which I will score music. I have toured the US, recently, with my newly formed band -Drums of India,” he says.
When asked on his experiment with sound he says: “I believe in the dignity of sound. The sound I create with Sonu nigam is called Muddy electronic. I constantly try to experiment with new sounds and that is why I exist as a musician. The name of my band is Rhythmscape: The new sound of melody and rhythm. I think that’s what I’m inspired to make, even today.”
“I always wanted to work across genres. I feel blessed to have three diverse careers; as a classical tabla player, a fusion artist, and a film composer. I work very hard but the sheer variety of my work constantly inspires me and I thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of dabbling in different musical styles. The exposure to different styles of music and listening to it helps me to straddle different genres,” he says. “Whether I am composing music for films or album or for my band Rhythmscape, I first sing and record it in my phone and then take to my studio. I create fusion constantly, doing shows as a fusion artist, and composing music for films. My fusion is also based on Indian classical music. large part of my music is influenced by classical music and that is my core,” he signs off.