Indian sitar master Purbayan Chatterjee has announced a rare U.S. tour and upcoming album Saath Saath. Kicking off both, Purbayan and his collective will perform at Carnegie Hall on August 14, in celebration of India’s 75 years of independence.
The album and concert feature seven ragas for morning and night.
“We have designed the recording like a performance of our music,” Purbayan says. “The record like a performance starts with a spiritual and Ad-Lib Alap & Jod followed by ragas matched with the time of day (per our tradition) and as the pieces of the recorded increment the performance rises to a crescendo with a relatively quieter end with raga Bhairavi.”
The sitarist has released a single “Yaman Madhya Laya” in which he channels his early-life mentor and Indian classical master Nikhil Bannerjee, with the addition of his lifelong friend, the flutist Rakesh Chaurasia.
The new album was co-written with flutist Rakesh, and the record will be performed and toured in both the United States and the United Kingdom throughout September and October. In addition to New York’s Carnegie Hall concert, another highlight performance will take place at London’s Barbican as part of the Darbar festival on October 16.
The U.S. tour takes Chatterjee back to California for three dates. He spent much of his 20s in the Bay Area immersed in study with music legends like Ustad Zakir Hussain at the esteemed Ali Akbar College of Music in San Raffael. It was during his time stateside, that he discovered musical influences from around the world, especially jazz, and musicians like Ornette Coleman.
The Carnegie Hall concert, in addition to the Saath Saath lineup of Chatterjee, Rakesh Chaurasia and tabla player Ojas Adhiya, will include percussionist Taufiq Qureshi the son of Ustad Allarakha Khansahib and brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain. For more information and tickets, visit the Carnegie Hall website.
Full tour dates
Aug. 14, New York City, Carnegie Hall
Sept. 15-17, Charlotte, North Carolina
Sept. 17, (Rakesh only) Irvine, Barclay Theater
Sept. 23, Richmond, Indiana, Earlham College
Sept. 24, Austin, Texas, Bates Recital Hall
Sept. 25, Boston, TBA
Sept. 30, Chicago, World Music Festival
Oct. 1 (Purbayan and Ojas only), Scranton, Penn., The Theatre at North
Oct. 2, Sunnyvale, Calif., TBA
Oct. 7, Houston, Matchbox4
Oct. 8, Los Angeles, Herrick Memorial Chapel
Oct. 9, Minneapolis, Recital Hall of St. Catherine University
Oct. 16, London, Darbar Festival, Barbican
Oct. 21, Seattle, Eastside Baha’i Center
Oct. 22, Boulder, Colorado, The Dairy Center
Oct. 23, New York City, Merkin Concert Hall
Stream the new single at Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Prime Music.
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