Download Ranjit Barot BIO (SHORT VERSION) Raised at the

Ranjit Barot BIO (SHORT VERSION)
Raised at the intersection of two cultures, drummer, composer, producer, and improviser
Ranjit Barot comes from a family with deep ties to Indian classical traditions of music
and dance, yet he spent considerable time absorbing western culture in England. That
palpable dichotomy inhabits his music, as illustrated by his captivating international
debut album Bada Boom – to be released on November 16th, 2010 by Abstract Logix.
As a writer and producer, Barot honed his skills by crafting songs and scores for the
thriving, prolific Indian film scene and working closely with other artists. Although
capable on a range of instruments, his weapon of choice as a performer remains the
western drum kit, on which he has cultivated a unique voice that internalizes and refracts
his musical and cultural influences. As a drummer, he has performed alongside such
formidable improvising composer/instrumentalists as John McLaughlin, Ustad Zakir
Hussain,
Pandit
Ravi
Shankar,
Charlie
Mariano
and
Don
Cherry.
The son of the legendary Indian classical dancer Sitara Devi (who specialized in the
Northern Indian Kathak style), Barot was raised in a musically rich environment. His
home played frequent host to jam sessions, where formidable musicians would gather to
stretch out, experiment, and freely explore their art. He was drawn to the drum set at age
12, and despite the fact that the trap set is a western instrument, he was nurtured and
supported by those around him. By the time he was seventeen, Barot was one of the
leading drummers in India, equally inspired by the music around him and the fusion
revolution happening in the west – all without any formal training on the instrument.
After an extended period working in studios and drumming rarely, the past decade has
found him reinvesting himself as an instrumentalist, resulting in a series of high-profile
performance opportunities, including his participation in John McLaughlin’s stunning
2008 album Floating Point, which featured McLaughlin alongside a cast of stellar Indian
fusion
musicians.
Citing the pathbreaking music of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti, Ranjit counts
McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain as two of his biggest influences – a respect that is
reciprocated as McLaughlin contributes a blistering solo to Bada Boom’s opening track,
“Singularity,” and Zakir Hussain provides the driving force for “Supernova.” Composed
of four original pieces and two striking reinventions of traditional Indian themes, Bada
Boom brilliantly explores Barot’s musical and cultural dichotomy. Rather than simply
recast one culture in the guise of another – transposing tabla parts onto the drum set,
playing funk guitar licks on the veena, etc. – Barot composes and arranges provocative,
thoughtful dialogues from which these varied influences, textures, and techniques
eventually emerge as one voice. “The meeting point of all art is the same, at least to me,”
Barot concludes. “When you strip away things like genre, ethnicity, art form even, then
you
are
left
with
just
intent
and
spirit.”