Simplicity in West moves Grammy winner

KOLKATA: It was homecoming of sorts for tabla player Sandeep Das, who is part of Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble’s ‘Sing Me Home’ that won the Grammy in the World Music category in 2017. The audience — many of whom elderly persons — swayed to Das’s Music Oceania as the musicians came up with crossover tracks featuring blue grass, blues, classical Bach, Chinese classical sheng, contemporary jazz and Indian classical music.

Das was 15 when he made his debut with Pt Ravi Shankar. He has performed in all prestigious festivals in India. Today, he feels very few maintain the authenticity of Indian classical music. “At fusion shows, it’s more to do with keyboards and drums accompanying Indian ragas,” said Das, who is currently based in Boston.

Yet, he has favourite tabla players from the city including Pt Bickram Ghosh and Pt

Subhankar Banerjee

. “Finally, there is Kumar-da (Pt Kumar Bose). He is also a disciple of my guru Pt Kishan Maharaj. What a persona Kumar-da is. I find his ‘Dha Dhin Dhada Dha Tin Nada’ truly inspiring.”

Though Das couldn’t fathom why city musicians gave his show a miss while the

Bengal

governor was there, he said it wasn’t this way in the West. Not just musicians, his concerts have even had the likes of Steve Jobs in attendance. Yo-Yo Ma had introduced Jobs as a ‘friend’. “But I didn’t even recognise that he was THE Steve Jobs,” Das recalled. Jobs’ simplicity had moved him. “When I’d perform near the Bay area, he would try to come. I had once asked him what he was up to and he took out a prototype phone from his pocket and said this was what he was developing. My eyes had popped out seeing a phone that had no buttons, could flip and zoom too,” he said.

What Das values most in an artist is the ability to “lead from behind”. “That’s what I learnt from Yo-Yo Ma. He has won 18 Grammys, is offered $1,00,000 a show and still doesn’t have dates in the next six years. Yet, he is the most humble human being I have seen,” Das said.

Unfortunately, accompanists at Indian classical concerts or those performing at fusion shows in India often don’t enjoy the privilege. “Their photos and names are dropped. While the vocalist or instrumentalist is given a big bouquet, the tabla player is given a small one or just a rose. This isn’t just an insult to the tabla player but to Maa Saraswati too. I have protested this even on stage,” he said.

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