'We Are The RRR'

'Post COVID, people are much more enthusiastic about going to concerts.'
'The live music scenario has suddenly become very relevant to people's lives.'
'They see that it is cooked on the spot.'

A tiny room of a plush Mumbai hotel reverberated with rhythmic sounds as we caught up with Ustad Taufiq Qureshi and Pandit Bickram Ghosh.

The maestros merge musical paths for their first collaborative album, RamTa: Masters of Rhythm, putting their unique talent of percussion to the forefront.

For Qureshi and Ghosh, the name RamTa -- Ram from Bickram and Ta from Taufiq -- is emblematic of their 30-year friendship that spans generations.

Born into revered musical families, both of them come with a lineage of music that shaped their interests over the years.

As they experiment with rhythm, they indulge in delightful antics showcasing their affection and reverence for each other both as friends and celebrated artists.

The maestros talk about music, family lineage, friendships, and bonding beyond music.

On the genesis of RamTa

Bickram Ghosh: We have been playing at concerts on and off for several years but have never done a project together. At one of the concerts, I suggested to him that we should do something together. There's chemistry and a certain vibration. We started recording in my studio at Kolkata.

RamTa is a result of camaraderie, a result of knowing each other for years. It's a result of the kind of music we believe in.

And for many, many years, there's not been a percussion album.

Taufiq Qureshi: In fact, I think his Rhythmscape came in 2003 and my Rhydhun came in 2000.

There was nothing in this genre for so long. And now we have come up with RamTa. We are the RRR.

(Both laugh)

Bickram Ghosh: That's a big coincidence. Wow, I just realised that.

On their family ties and time-tested friendships

Bickram Ghosh: Look at the legacy that we bring on board: His illustrious father Ustad Alla (Rakha) Khan Sahib, his illustrious brother Ustad Zakir Hussainji and my father Pandit Shankar Ghosh. We've been brought up in the world of tabla, in the world of percussion, in the world of rhythm.

There was a commonality of meeting grounds but to bring that into a project was very special.

We didn't know where it was going to go.

I just saw it coming together from the word go and it was seamless. We were like two excited kids, with the toys in our hands.

Taufiq Qureshi: Our friendship goes back a long way. Tabla is what he plays, I play the djembe. I have been transposing all the knowledge which I received from my father onto the African djembe (a musical instrument).

The other thing is, as a percussionist, he is also exploring multi-percussions.

He is playing kanjira. That way, there is a commonality between us.

The tabla has come to us from our fathers and we also explore different kinds of percussions. So if I were to sum up in simple words, RamTa is the essence of 30 years of experience of both of us.

Rhythmically, what we have experienced, learnt, listened to, we have taken it out in RamTa.

Bickram Ghosh: One thing I would like to say here is that when we listen to this word 'Sufi' and the connotation of Sufi is primarily melody. But I think the trope must believe that there is a Sufiana in rhythm.

If you hear RamTa, in some of the tracks, you will find a Sufiana there.

You will see there is a spiritual moment.

WATCH: Taufiq Qureshi and Bickram Ghosh's body drumming performance

On body drumming as a niche space

Taufiq Qureshi: Body drumming is very difficult.

You can do anything, be it body percussion or anything, but we both explore one concept which Bickram does a lot in live concerts.

It is the cheek rhythm. He calls it face and drum. He does it brilliantly.

VIDEO: Taufiq Qureshi and Bickram Ghosh perform the 'cheek rhythm'

WATCH: 'Zakirbhai used to babysit Bickram in America'

On body drumming finding its space in the Indian music space

Bickram Ghosh: Though it is duly given credence to the African tradition, the body drumming that we do has about 80 per cent of Indian content in it.

It is shiksha, the gurumukhi vidya (knowledge) that we have learnt which we bring to the body drumming concept.

We are living in an era which is very experimental. There is a necessity of discovery.

There is something fresh about this album; it is attractive to the youth.

A lot of youngsters came to the RamTa shows in Calcutta and Delhi.

The fact that we're trying to take India and combine it with Africa or on world music, it is like we are making a melting pot of cultures through our percussion.

Taufiq Qureshi: Our aim was to take music that we've been learning from over the years and bring it in front of the audience and we've tried our best to make it fresh. Let the audience hear it and say this is something which is very, very different and new.

Bickram Ghosh: There is a very interesting change that has come in the last few years, say post COVID, because now, people are much more enthusiastic about going to concerts.

The live music scenario has suddenly become very relevant to people's lives.

They see that it is cooked on the spot.

There, they can see if it is true or false. Because in the background, you can put auto-tune and calibrate but when you are doing it on stage, there is no place to hide. So if you are doing something right, that is what people want to see.

We want them to listen to RamTa, then come to the RamTa concerts and see what we did in the studio is actually what we do on stage also.

On possibility of body drumming in the Indian film space

Bickram Ghosh: I think the filmwallahs will have to figure out a nice big chunk where it gets that kind of screen time.

But until then, the shows are there.