KUCHING, May 24: Immerse yourself in Indian music infused with contemporary flavours performed by genre-hopping trio BluGuru and renowned Indian classical musician Debashish Bhattacharya, who will both bring the best blend of rich traditional South Asian music to Sarawak’s jungle stage.
According to a press release issued today by the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2022 brings a slew of brilliant performers from over 15 countries representing the many unique sounds from around the world.
STB revealed that BluGuru, best described as a twisted tale of Indian, Blues, Celtic, Swing, Jazz, Bluegrass, and adventure, is on the bill of talents, bringing to the forefront the various representations of Indian music.
“Comprised of multi-instrumentalist and three-time Bluegrass National Guitar champion Andrew Clermont and Fringe Award nominee Josh Bennett, as well as the extraordinary vocals and dance of Parvyn, the daughter of renowned singer Dya Singh, you can anticipate a sound resembling Jeff Beck meets Ravi Shankar on the set of “O Brother, Where Art Thou” while dancing in Rio.
“With soaring vocal harmonies, blistering guitar and fiddle, and regular appearances of traditional Indian, Australian, European, and American instruments like the sitar, tabla, and dilruba, didgeridoo, mandolin, banjo, and more, their shows are sure to keep you on your toes,” STB said.
The trio only debuted their first album in 2010, “Ragas 2 Blu Riches”, which was hailed as a triumph for acoustic music and covers everything from jazz and bluegrass to Brazilian samba and meditative Indian pieces.
Indian slide guitar maestro Debashish Bhattacharya, who will be accompanied by his daughter, rising vocal star Anandi Bhattacharya, will also be performing a powerful show at the 25th RWMF.
“Along with them will also be their Grammy-nominated family member Subhasis Bhattacharya on tabla.
“A disciple of the legendary Brij Bushan Kabra, he (Debashish) is a constant innovator who takes the Indian slide guitar beyond its boundaries to the point where he designed several new styles of the instrument to realise his musical vision.
“As a performer, Debashish gave his first guitar recital at the tender age of four on the All India Radio (the national public radio broadcaster of India) and in a public concert,” STB noted.
At the age of 21, Debashish was awarded the President of India award in 1984.
“In his twenties, he evolved a unique style of playing the guitar and also synthesised selected features of various other instruments such as the veena, sitar, sarod, and kannur.
“A seasoned performer, Dehabshish has performed worldwide and recorded with some of the world’s top artists including 12-times Grammy winner Jerry Douglas, African Kora legend Ballake Sissoko, jazz guitar legend John McLaughlin, Moroccan Oud legend Driss el Maloumi, American bluesman Bob Brozman, British singer Martin Simpson, Australian rocker John Butler, American rocker Henry Kaizer, Indian legends Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pt Ravi Shankar, and many others,” STB added.
Visit the RWMF 2022 official website at rwmf.net for more information or to purchase tickets. — DayakDaily
