Namaskar by Sameer Gupta

Namaskar, a Sanskrit salutation expressing reverence and respect, is the name of the debut solo recording of gifted drummer and tabla player Sameer Gupta. A member of Marc Cary’s Focus Trio, Gupta has studied with tabla masters Zakir Hussain and Anindo Chatterjee (who appears on the album), and collaborated with Western jazz musicians and Indian artists. The album presents a combination of Indian ragas and thumris (traditional folk songs), originals penned by Gupta and Cary, and a Miles Davis standard.

Gupta begins with “Aaye Na Balam,” reworking a thumri composed by Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, the historic poetry portrays the pain and yearning of a lover in waiting. Cary’s opening resonating chord establishes the somberness of the composition, and the intricacies of Misra’s sārangī emulate the human voice, expressing a range of emotional hues, predominantly a sense of longing. Three Gupta originals are inspired by the Golden Era of Bollywood, Cary infusing the tunes with a hypnotic, almost psychedelic quality through a textured layering of electric sound.

Cary propels us into the here and now of jazz with his relentlessly driving, haunting “Walk With Me.” Gupta’s arrangement of the Miles Davis classic “Blue in Green,” featuring Chatterjee on tabla and Gupta on drums, is based on a seven-beat chhand cycle. It’s the concluding statement in his imaginative vision of Indian-American musical amalgamation.

Sameer Gupta is known as one of the few percussionists simultaneously representing the traditions of American jazz on drum set and Indian classical music on tabla. By combining traditional and modern improvisational styles drawing from his Indian heritage and American roots, Gupta has already established himself as an original musical voice in jazz, world, and fusion music.

sameergupta.com
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