Bickram Ghosh

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Bickram Ghosh is ranked amongst the great tabla players of India. As a Fusion artist/composer he is regarded as one of the pioneers of the New Age movement that emerged from India.His "sound" is considered to be unique in it's combination of exciting rhythms and melodic soulfulness.
As a classical musician he performed as Ravi Shankar’s tabla accompanist for over a decade and has toured extensively, appearing in many of the top venues throughout the world including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Royal Albert Hall, The Barbican, and The Palais De Beaux Arts in Brussels.
As a New-Age artist his work is well known globally. In 2002, he created the fusion band Rhythmscape which, as he puts it, "was the culmination of the musical energies that I had imbibed through all my collaborations worldwide". Rhythmscape is a fresh voice in the new-age arena of world music. While the band serves up an amazing repertoire of rhythm, it also achieves melodic soulfulness. The lavish praise that has been showered on the ensemble by critics and top artists alike stands testimony to the birth of a new kind of fusion music.
Some of the world's best known percussionists inhabit Rhythmscape's stage. In addition to Bickram, there is V. Suresh on the traditional clay pot, who the best known player of his generation on the instrument today. The band also includes the dynamic mridangam player S. Sekhar, who played on a number of films directed by the great Satyajit Ray. On the melodic front, the great Indian electric guitar maestro Amyt Datta and the amazing vocalist Ambarish Das stir up some of the most beautiful melodic moments.
Rhythmscape released an album by the same name on the Sony label in 2003. In the year that followed, the band made their UK debut to a capacity crowd at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, and performed at the Barcelona Forum in Spain, where the band was presented on the same stage as Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys and Bob Dylan. Rhythmscape’s concert was acknowledged by the Forum as the "best show on the Haima stage".
In 2007, the band released their 2nd album, Beyond Rhythmscape and that summer, made their U.S. debut in Detroit at NABC before a crowd of 10,000, which was heralded as the best act of the festival. This was followed by a very successful NY debut at Joe's Pub. Rhythmscape is hugely popular throughout India and also tours regularly there.
Bickram is widely recognized for his incredible range on the tabla,and has collaborated on numerous recording projects with various artists. He has played with all the stalwarts of Indian Classical music (Amjad Ali Khan, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ali Akbar Khan and Dr. Balamurlikrishna). Prior to launching Rhythmscape, Bickram performed on Ravi Shankar’s Grammy Award winning album Full Circle: Carnegie Hall in 2001. In addition, Bickram can be heard on 3 Grammy nominated albums – two with Anoushka Shankar, and also on George Harrison’s Brainwashed. Bickram was also the lead percussionist on Harrison and Ravi Shankar’s platinum album Chants of India (1997). He has over 60 releases worldwide as a soloist, collaborator and composer. Beyond Rhythmscape, Drum Invasion, One, Folktail, Samaa and Drumscape are some other gems from his vast recording repertoire.
Bickram also has a number of film scores to his credit.He has composed music for the Bengali films Shatabdir Golpo, Iti srikanto, the award-winning Hothat Neerar Jonnyo, Neel rajar deshe and the soon to be released Piyalir Password.He has composed for the Hindi Film Devaki and is currently composing for Sooni Taraporewala's Little Zizou and Amitabha Neil Ray's Charu in Bollywood.He has also played the lead role in two films - Hothat Neerar Jonnyo and Ek Mutho Chobi. He made a guest appearance in the film The Bong Connection for which he also performed on the track Pagla Hawa.
Some comments from Bickram's celebrated collaborators serve to describe Rhythmscape well.
"I do feel that Bickram’s Rhythmscape has got a fresh new voice of exuberance…it is indeed very exciting."
-Ravi Shankar, sitar maestro
Rhythmscape has that unique quality of being at once wildly exciting and also deeply moving. Bickram's uncanny tabla skills and love for intricate rhythmic patterns inject a fire and pulse which are impossible to resist. Delicious flashes of Latin or Middle-Eastern flavours blend seamlessly into his concoction, a fusion which stands above many of today's stale attempts at musical integration which are happening in India. Yet through all the frantic travels among rhythms and cultures runs a wistful, haunting pull that is inherently, timelessly Indian. With mellifluous vocals and achingly beautiful instrumental interludes, Rhythmscape transports me to an India which is often hard to find.
-Anoushka Shankar, sitar player
"I have heard many experimental albums, but Bickram Ghosh has definitely given a different dimension to the concept of fusion. I really enjoyed listening to them"
-Amjad Ali Khan, sarod maestro
Bickram Ghosh’s Rhythmscape has "captured the imagination of musicians and listeners alike."
-Shubha Mudgal, singer
"Bickram’s Rhythmscape is simply brilliant. I love performing with him and his group."
-A. Sivamani, percussionistHawa.
Press Comments:
Bickram Ghosh is one of the greatest living percussionists in the world today
Bollyvista. com
Talking Tabla, the album is a fascinating expression of this venerable instrument by a living master, and one that could change one's view of what a drum album is, and can be.
Jazz Times America's Jazz Magazine
“Captivating, colourful and charismatic are the words which popped into my head as I sat enthralled by a performance by one of India’s leading artists. Bickram Ghosh and his band of musicians…Rhythmscape attracted a full house…at Great Bardfield, Essex. The performance was sensational, inspiring and energetic ….which is why Bickram and his band are such a success at top venues such as the Royal Albert Hall…..”
-Hollie Darken, Essex Observer, UK, 2004
The second half of the concert ……was an extended showcase …..particularly for Mr.Ghosh's mutable tones :ringing, pattering, skittering, galloping. The New York Times (review for concert at carnegie hall, NY)
Talking tabla. This CD is, hands down, the best recording of tabla drumming I've ever heard.
Conscious Choice Chicago, U.S.A
tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh is the king of finger work…
The Hindu,Coimbatore