Meet Mumbai’s Grammy winner

Sarangi exponent Pandit Dhruba Ghosh, a Juhu resident, speaks to MiD DAY after winning in the Best New Age Album category for Miho journey to the mountains

Meet Mumbai's Grammy winner

Sarangi exponent Pandit Dhruba Ghosh, a Juhu resident, speaks to MiD DAY after winning in the Best New Age Album category for Miho journey to the mountains

MUMBAI waltzed its way into the 53rd Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles on Sunday, giving India its sixth Grammy winner in the form of Pandit Dhruba Ghosh, a Sarangi player from Juhu.

Ghosh and the team of Paul Winter Consort, an American musical group led by saxophonist Paul Winter, were awarded the Grammy in the Best New Age Album category for their album Miho-Journey to the Mountains.
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The 53-year-old played the sarangi, composed and sang two songs for the album.

Ghosh was not present at the Staples Centre Arena when his team was accorded the recognition in what is, arguably, music's biggest night.

He heard the news through his team members and the excitement in his voice was palpable when MiD DAY contacted him at his Juhu residence.

"I was hoping we would win a Grammy because Paul Winters Consort has won that and many other awards in the past. The album was beautifully made this time around as well."
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Recalling the moment when five-time Grammy winner Paul Winter called him to offer the opportunity to play alongside him, Ghosh said, "I agreed to it without much ado and working with the group was a beautiful experience."

Early days

Being born to famed percussionist and Padma Bhushan recipient Nihik Ghosh ensured that music became a part of Ghosh's life at a very early age.
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His uncle, Pannalal Ghosh, is credited with bringing the basuri into the realm of Indian classical music and, in keeping with the family's tradition, all three of Nihik's children embraced music in some form or the other.

While Ghosh took up the sarangi, his elder brother Nayan is a sitar exponent and tabla player while his sister Tulika is a classical vocalist.

Ghosh is a classical vocalist as well but he decided to devote all his attention to the sarangi when he observed that the instrument was dying out.

"The instrument is not very well-known in contemporary India but is respected a lot in the West," said Ghosh, adding that the Western audience is very taken by fusion/crossover music.

Positions held

Ghosh heads Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Music and Dance Conservatory in the city, which has more than 400 students pursuing studies up to the degree level in classical as well as contemporary music.

"The institute has a serious attitude and one which is dedicated to culture. It does not get much publicity, but is immensely respected," said Ghosh.

(From left) Paul McCandless, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Steve Gorn, Glen Velez, Dhruba Ghosh and Paul Winter in front of Miho Museum

Prior to this, he headed the Rotterdam University's World Music department and was the Principal of Sangeet Mahabharati, which was established by his father in Juhu Scheme.

Ghosh has collaborated with artists from Europe, the Gulf, Japan and Greece and has also worked with some well-known disc jockeys, including Robert Miles.

Recording
The recording of Miho-Journey to the Mountains, was done at the Miho Museum in Shiga City, Japan, in March last year. The Miho Museum is set in the lush green Shigaraki Mountains near Kyoto. It is inspired by the philosophy of the Shumei, a Japanese organisation dedicated to beauty in the arts, natural agriculture and spiritual healing.

Whale Raga
While composing one of the tracks for the album, Ghosh came across some recordings of Humpback whale songs owned by Paul Winter. He tried playing the sarangi in the same key as the whale songs. The idea excited Winter so much that he asked Ghosh to name the track the Whale Raga, which is how it went on the CD cover.
'Whale Raga flowed from the discovery that Ghosh's sarangi was in the same key as a recording Winter had of u00a0whale songs. Ghosh so enjoyed his duet with the whales, u00a0he asked to use their u00a0u00a0recordings as part of future concerts in India,' says the blurb on the CD.

Previous winners
India has had only five winners in the Grammy's u00a052-year-old history before Ghosh. The previous winners are:
A R Rahman, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayak, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

Did you know?
Of all Indian instruments, Sarangi is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice, able to imitate vocal ornaments such as gamakas (shakes) and meend (sliding movements). It is also said to be the hardest Indian instrument to master.