Ranjit Barot: Bada Boom
November 16, 2010
Ranjit Barot THE INTERNATIONAL DEBUT ALBUM FROM RANJIT BAROT. Visionary composer, drummer, producer, and improviser explores his own personal hybrid
Ranjit Barot
biography
He has been described by guitar legend John McLaughlin as “one of the leading edges in drumming”, and is now part of John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension. He has been always inspired by the path-breaking work of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and John McLaughlin and was recently featured as the drummer in John’s Grammy nominated album ‘Floating Point’.
Ranjit has released his highly acclaimed worldwide debut album, “Bada Boom”, in November 2010, featuring some of the greatest musicians on the scene today, from India and the West. This album is a collection of Ranjit’s Jazz Fusion and World compositions with performances by Ustad Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, U. Srinivas, U. Rajesh, Scott Kinsey, Matt Garrison, Wayne Krantz, Dominique DiPiazza, Harmeet Manseta, Taufique Qureshi, Sanjay Divecha, Tim Garland, Gwilym Symcock, Ayden Esen and Elie Afif, to name a few.
Born into a family steeped in Indian classical music, melody and rhythm has always been an integral part of Ranjit’s life. His mother is the renowned Kathak dancer, Sitara Devi.
His first big performance was at Jazz Yatra ’80, with the Jazz Yatra Sextet. He also performed at the Yatra with the great Pandit Ravi Shankar’s ensemble, Jazzmine, featuring John Handy, George Adams and Mike Richmond of the Mingus Dynasty.
On his first European tour, Ranjit met Don Cherry. There was an instant connection, and he invited Ranjit to jam at a jazz club in Warsaw. This connection eventually led to a performance at the 1982 Jazz Yatra in Bombay. Between 1980-82, Ranjit performed at European festivals which also featured jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Foster, Billy Higgins, Cecil Taylor and Louie Bellson, among others.
Ranjit’s approach to drumming and the use of vocabulary has been influenced by great rhythm masters such as tabla legends Ustad Allarakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain, Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Steve Gadd, Omar Hakim, Al Foster, Peter Erskin and the Carnatic giants such as Palghat Raghu ji and Karaikudi Mani ji (mridangam), Palnivel ji (tavill), Hari Shankar ji (Khanjira), and his friend and teacher, Sridhar Parthsarthy (mridangam, hand percussion).
Ranjit has also had a long career in composition and music production, working out of his own state-of-the-art studio facility in Mumbai. It is in this connection that he had the honor of working with the sound and music production industry legend, Bruce Swedien, who mixed Ranjit’s songs on “Vande Mataram 2” and “Senso Unico”, an Indo-Italian feature film. Bruce has had a great influence on Ranjit’s musical life and approach to a lot of his contemporary work.
Combined with his strong roots in the Indian classical tradition, his world view of music gave him a unique perspective on the Indian Film genre. His journey in this prolific industry started in the 80’s and he has been a featured drummer and arranger for Industry giants such as R.D. Burman, Laxmikant – Pyarelal, Kalyanji – Anandji, continuing through the eras of Anu Malik and Ismail Darbar, and to the present, as one of the most sought after arranger/ producers.
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Buy Itunes-note Amazon Bandcamp The phrase World Music should suggest a wide-ranging music form that encompasses the music of cultures