Biography
Niladri Kumar, the son and disciple of sitar maestro Pandit Kartick Kumar and the fifth generation of sitar players in his family, is a maverick musician. He has been hailed as one of the most serious young exponents of the sitar which he started learning age four. He gave his first public performance at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry at age six. Niladri’s unpredictable brilliance is rooted in ancient tradition allied to innovation and a natural charisma. His distinctive style is strongly rooted in classical musical traditions, which appeal to the orthodox as well as progressive music lovers. A rare instrumentalist equally at home playing Classical or contemporary world music, he is one of his generation’s brightest stars.
Talvin Singh, born in 1970 in East London, is an accomplished Tabla player, electronic musician, music theorist, record producer and DJ. As a solo artist, he is perhaps best known as the father of modern Asian electronic music founding the groundbreaking club nights Anokha and the Calcutta Cyber Cafe and releasing 1997’s breakthrough album Talvin Singh Presents Anokha Soundz of the Asian Underground. Whilst still in his mid teens, Singh traveled to India to earn pupilage from Acharya Pandit Laxman Singh, master tabla maestro of the Punjab school. This period made an indelible mark on the young artist and he has since continued to practice and perform the art form internationally. Singh’s collaborations with Indian classical musicians include Ustad Sultan Khan, Rakesh Churasia, Ustad Imrat Khan and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan amongst scores of others. Drawing inspiration from these classical Indian arts, Singh first came to prominence as tabla percussionist in the 1980s London jazz scene working with Courtney Pine and Cleveland Watkiss. Singh also became involved in experimental music collaborations beginning in the late 1980s, working with Sun Ra and Courtney helping to popularize the burgeoning Asian underground sub-culture movement. Singh has collaborated with several musical pioneers in various genre’s including Bjork, Blondie, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Madonna, DJ Spooky, The Master Musicians of Jajouka, Jay Z and Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Singh’s solo album credits include the critical and commercial successes OK (1998) (winner of the The South Bank Prize and The Mercury Music Prize in 1999) and HA (2001). In more recent times Talvin has toured his Tablatronics project internationally, closed the 2010 Brit Jazz Festival at Ronnie Scott’s, toured with Terry Riley and George Brooks in the California Kirana tribute to Pran Nath, played the Coachella 2010 festival alongside Gorillaz and Thom Yorke, performed at the 2010 Asian Music Awards and toured extensively in India.
Even on paper, this combination is breathtaking. Talvin Singh, is known for his groundbreaking tablatronic style combining Indian traditions and modern European aesthetics. Tabla player, producer, and composer he has arranged strings for Bjork, supported Massive Attack and worked with everyone from Sun Ra to Siouxsie and the Banshees. Niladri Kumar, a fifth generation sitar player, has an equally fresh, experimental approach to his instrument and is recognised as one of the finest players, and open minded musicians of his generation.
Coming together for their first time in 2009, Talvin Singh and Niladri Kumar combine their deep rooted Indian classical training, and their modern, contemporary surroundings to create an extraordinary sound. TOGETHER displays each musician’s formidable talents and spectacular skills of musical expression and musicianship
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