MUMBAI: Renowned santoor player Rahul Sharma and one of the finest tabla players in the world, Zakir Hussain, are teaming up yet again for a performance at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai on 14 January, 2015.
The duo has performed in the US earlier, but this one’s going to be different from their earlier performance. “We have earlier toured the US and done an album called ‘Rhythm of Love’. The album was recorded live in San Francisco. However, this concert will have a pure classical touch, exploring the innovative aspect of a live act,” informed Sharma.
Recollecting his last tour with Hussain, Sharma said that their scheduled seven concerts in the US were spread over eight days and this gave him enough time with the former. The duo use to travel to the concert venues together and get back together too. Thus, the Nehru Centre reunion will be a pleasant one for Sharma.
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Furthermore, talking about his collaborations with international artists he said, “The approach to an international successful collaboration has to be very well thought. Aspects like whether both instruments complement each other. Whether the diverse genres will excite the musician and the listener too is an important aspect.”
The santoor player’s one such collaboration was with Grammy award winner Kenny G for his album ‘Namate’. The album went on to claim the number 1 spot on the Jazz US Billboard charts. “It was great to see a Santoor album topping the jazz genre charts in the US,” averred the musician.
In 2002, Sharma contributed to the music of Bollywood film ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’ for which he received the ‘Best Debut Music Director’ award at the Zee Bollywood Music Awards. But, he has maintained his distance from the glamour industry since. One of the main reasons for it was Sharma’s need to establish himself as a santoor player across the globe. “My priority will always be the santoor and other things can work around it,” revealed Sharma.
