Born in the US, Sarathy Korwar grew up in Ahmedabad and Chennai in India. He began playing tabla aged 10, but was also drawn to the American music that he heard on the radio and leaking through the doorway of his local jazz music shop (Ahmad Jamal and John Coltrane were early discoveries). At 17, Korwar moved to Pune to study Environmental Science, but instead dedicated his time to music, practising tabla under the tutelage of Rajeev Devasthali, translating his skills to the western drum kit and playing as a session musician.
On completing these studies a decade ago, he moved to London where he trained as a classical tabla player under the guidance of Sanju Sahai at SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies), focusing on the adaptation of Indian classical rhythmic material to non-Indian percussion instruments.
Korwar has since established himself as one of the most original and compelling voices in the UK jazz scene, leading the UPAJ Collective - a loose band of South Asian j
One of the greatest tabla players of Banaras Gharana. I was in school in the 60's when I went with my father and uncle in Delhi's Modern School's Shankar Lal Music Festival where he played with Ustad Vilayat Khan, and it was an amazing night. It is still embedded in my memories. Vanday Maatram. Jai Bharat who gave us such great legends.
Pandit Ji, I love your power and playing - such a handsome Guru ... I really wish I had the honour of your audience - but Alas not to be. Rest in heaven Pandit ji - what a legend, what a powerful player. Jai Banaras Tabla !!
One of the first cassette tapes we bought at the old Atlantic Video in Dallas in the early 90's was of Tabla Wizard Samta Prasad. Still listening to it some 30 years later. He swings like crazy.... sometimes sounds like an entire herd of charging horses..... powerful.
Well said, the best tabalist of Banaras Gharana. Just check out for his 1969 Bangla Uttam - Supriya movie "Chirodiner" / forever, with emphasis on the Kolkata, India New Empire theatre tabla fusion.
𝗨𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮 𝗜𝘀 𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 In case anyone wants to get that printed on a T-shirt or tote bag, here’s what I mean by the title - I’ve spent a lot of time lately, thinking about utopias and even going back to Thomas More’s first use of the word, in his famous novel called Utopia from 1516. In a nutshell, the book describes how the main protagonist goes in search of new land, builds a bridge, and renames the island of Abraxas to Utopia. I thought….. three-step guide to colonisation? What’s apparent to me is that, often, our ideas of utopias stem from a deep-rooted settler colonial mentality and follow a similar formula, as the one detailed by Thomas More. I believe we need to find ways to decolonise utopias, and in turn dystopias. This way of thinking also comes from seeing the natural world as an inanimate resource rather than a living, sentient being. In this respect, we need to be anti-utopian, and anti-dystopian. We need to be able to imagine futures drastically different to the kind of ‘utopias’ that are being sold by right-wing populist politicians all around the world, particularly in both countries I call home - Britain and India. This song title draws attention to that idea. Filmed late at night in Ridley Road Market, I wanted to draw attention to a modern form of settler colonial activity, aka gentrification. Those familiar with the area and how it has evolved over the past years will know that it is not too dissimilar to the story of Utopia, mapped out in 1516. The video features the exceptional talent of Botis Seva. Directed by Elliot Gonzo and produced by Perfidious Productions. Please share it with your loved ones if you can, it would mean a lot to me
And the colonialists started with occupying the lands and culture of the British Working Class. Frantz Fanon could have also been talking about England.
