Attend a gig that puts the spotlight on percussion instruments, be it the djembe, conga or darbuka
Khwab D Haria
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If we compare a musical composition to a concrete building, percussion instruments are often the iron framework that holds the song together, with guitar leads, keyboard notes, etc, acting as the bricks and mortar added on top. They help keep the structure of the track intact, with the musicians usually happy to sit in the shadows while the band’s other members enjoy the limelight. But a gig at a SoBo venue will now reverse that equation later this week, putting percussion players in the forefront to bring their art into focus.
Omkar Salunkhe
The band that will be performing at the concert is called The Percussion Collective. It comprises Omkar Salunkhe, Shikhar Naad Qureshi and Khwab D Haria. Shikhar is Taufiq Qureshi’s 21-year-old son, while Salunkhe and Haria have been the percussion guru’s long-term students. That’s the common bond that brought the trio in contact with each other. And it was around two years ago that they decided to form the collective, agreeing to add guest artistes to the musical ensemble as and when a concert comes along.
This time around, the three people who will be joining them are keyboardist Saurabh Bhalerao, bassist Shovon Mukherjee, and Sarang Kulkarni, who is a sarod player. Shikhar reveals that the first set of the gig will involve him, Salunkhe and Haria playing different percussion instruments — such as the djembe, conga and darbuka — before their guests are invited up on stage for one track. “The second set opens with another piece with these guys, following which The Percussion Collective will play one last rhythmic beat, and then we end the show with all of us jamming together,” Shikhar adds.
He also says that the apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree when it comes to his own musical approach. “My father is actually the progenitor of translating Indian classical knowledge on to instruments that originated elsewhere, and that’s what we do as well. So, we take our knowledge of the tabla, for instance, and apply it to maybe a djembe before presenting it to the audience,” Shikhar tells us, adding that his dad and uncle — the legendary Zakir Hussian — are the two people who have influenced him the most in life.
Shikhar Naad Qureshi
And he ends by emphasising how integral percussion instruments are to keeping a song’s rhythm in place. “These instruments are traditionally meant for accompaniment. That’s the role they have been playing for centuries now. We provide the foundation, or the base groove, upon which the other musicians take off and improvise,” he says, even though for a certain part of the upcoming concert, it’s just percussions that will be showcased on stage, giving them their rightful place under the sun.
On June 7, 9 pm
At The Quarter, Royal Opera House, Girgaum.
Log on to insider.in
Entry Rs 749
Know your percussions
Djembe
The origins of the djembe, a goblet drum, lie in West Africa. Taufiq Qureshi was one of the first people to play Indian-influenced sounds on it. And the Percussion Collective is carrying that legacy forward.
Conga
Unlike the djembe, which consists of a single drum, congas come in sets of two or four drums that the musician plays together. It’s indigenous to Cuba and used in a lot of Latin music, such as merengue and rumba.
Darbuka
The darbuka and djembe are similar, in the sense that both fall under the category of goblet drums. This instrument is of Arabo-Turkish origins, and is hugely popular in countries like Egypt and Tunisia.
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