Next month local audiences will be treated to a feast of Indian Classical Music and a collaboration influenced by Indian Classical Music when a team of world renowned musicians led by legendary santoor player, Shivkumar Sharma, heads to South Africa.
Leading local saxophonist, Buddy Wells, will be teaming up with Rahul Sharma on santoor. For the two of them the concert tour, 'Celebration of Santoor', will further the relationship they established in a performance for the inaugural edition of the popular IPL cricket series in India in 2008.
Buddy Wells, like many other jazz musicians, has long been an admirer of Indian Classical Music. Says Buddy, “Indian classical music has had a great influence on jazz music and many great jazz musicians I admire have studied the philosophies and music of India. I have a great appreciation for the deep traditions of Indian music, but more than that, I also really enjoy listening to Indian classical music and have enjoyed many of the excellent concerts produced by Inner Circle Entertainment over the years. Their vision has led to some wonderful collaborations between musicians from India and South Africa, and I am grateful for this opportunity to perform again with Rahul Sharma. I am looking forward to exploring the music more deeply with Rahul in this South African tour.”
Rahul is no stranger to collaborative projects either. He has recorded and performed with a vast range of musicians including pianist Richard Clayderman, Egyptian oud player Georges Kazazian, Afghani rabab player Homayoun Sakhi. His latest album, which is topping the charts internationally, is Namaste India with smooth jazz saxophonist, Kenny G. Rahul Sharma has released over 50 albums to date, including a thematic album for Peter Gabriel’s REALWORLD label. Rahul Sharma’s Rhythm of Love is a recording of a live concert in San Francisco wherein he is accompanied by legendary tabla wizard and percussionist Zakir Hussain. “Indian Classical Music involves a lot of improvising spontaneously just like jazz and this makes it more exciting for me to team up with Buddy Wells and try out some of my compositions. I’m really looking forward to performing in South Africa this September. We were so warmly received by audiences across South Africa on my previous tour and I am now really looking forward to sharing my music with them again,” says Rahul.
Santoor (a 100 stringed hammered dulcimer), the folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir in the Himalayas, owes its classical status to Shivkumar Sharma. During a performance career of over half a century, Shivkumar Sharma has caught the interest and imagination of millions of new listeners. Shivkumar Sharma’s album Call of the Valley is still the highest selling Indian Classical Music album ever released. Shivkumar Sharma will be treating South African audiences to his mastery when he renders traditional compositions on the tour. Shivkumar Sharma is also a honorary patron of Inner Circle Foundation which was setup to further education in Indian Classical Music, by way of local workshops, talks, lecture-demos and scholarships for study in India.
Leading tabla player Subhankar Banerjee will be accompanying the artists on tabla. Subhankar himself has provided tabla accompaniment to all the great masters of Indian Classical Music and is equally comfortable with cross over music. He has accompanied John McLaughlin, composed music with musicians from five Asian countries for a Japanese music festival, and also performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo. He performs regularly with Greek saxophone player Petroloukas Halkias and lyra player Ross Daly.
Concert dates:
Cape Town – Saturday, 24 September – Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Auditorium 1; 20:15
Johannesburg – Sunday, 25 September – The Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City; 16:00
Tickets are available from Computicket nationwide, or the Computicket call centre 0861 915 8000.
The concert tour is produced by Inner Circle Entertainment in association with its partners, South African Airways, SABC 2 Eastern Mosaic, Taj Cape Town, Incredible India, Mail & Guardian, Auric Auto BMW.
