Live is Better!

Roobaroo/Milan 2009

Update: (Thanks UMA for the concert tip) One more show added. November 7th in Austin.

Event Details: Saturday, November 7th starting 5:00pm @ Fine Arts Facility, Westlake High School – 4100 Westbank Dr, Austin, TX.
More information: Aid India, Austin

Event Details: Sunday, November 8th starting 4:00pm @ Chabot College – Performing Arts Center, Building 1300 – 25555 Hesperian Boulevard, Hayward, California 94545
More information: http://roobaru.org/

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt also known as V. M. Bhatt, is a fine exponent of the Indian slide guitar. Infact, Bhatt is the creator of the Mohan Veena. One of India’s premier Hindustani classical performer has won a Grammy Award too! He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1998 and the Padma Shri in 2002.

Bhatt is best known for his Grammy winning album A Meeting By The River with Ry Cooder and other fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with Western artists like Taj Mahal, Béla Fleck and Jerry Douglas. He has collaborated with the likes of Eric Clapton at the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Folk musician Harry Manx, who studied with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt for five years, plays a Mohan Veena. Counting Crows’ Bassist Matt Malley also plays a Mohan Veena and is a student and friend of Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

Salman Ahmad is the phenomenal guitarist, composer and the soul of the musical group Junoon. Since its formation in the early 1990s, Junoon has become a phenomenon in the South Asian music scene and beyond, performing all around the world and spreading their fan base across the globe at a rapid pace. Only a few bands have seen the kind of success they have experienced.

Ahmad, with Junoon, has been increasingly involved in humanitarian efforts, including playing at events such as the Building Human Rights Culture Gala, the Empower Peace program with students in Pakistan, and fundraising for Hurricane Katrina victims. Most recently in coordination with the UN, Ahmad joined relief operations for the October 2005 earthquake victims in northern Pakistan.

Daniel Weiss started playing the drums at the age of 6. He has performed and/or recorded with several artists of international acclaim. He has also played in South America and Asia and has recorded for Omnitone, Fresh Sound/New Talent, Arabesque, Pi, Criss Cross, Between The Lines, Act, Hat Hut, and Auand record labels. Dan has been studying tabla for the last nine years exclusively under the guidance of his guru Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Weiss has two recordings under his own name.
Dan will also start contributing articles to modern drummer dealing with Indian rhythm and its applicability to western contexts.

Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso tabla player. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and western musical traditions. All of his teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of tabla-playing, which he now represents. He has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 2007. His compositions as well as his writings are widely acclaimed.
Samir Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 30 years and many of his students are established performers. He is the Founder-Director of CHHANDAYAN, an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Indian music and culture.

Catch them in performance on:

Saturday, November 7th starting 5:00pm @ Fine Arts Facility, Westlake High School – 4100 Westbank Dr, Austin, TX.
More information: Aid India, Austin

Sunday, November 8th starting 4:00pm @ Chabot College – Performing Arts Center, Building 1300 – 25555 Hesperian Boulevard, Hayward, California 94545
More information: http://roobaru.org/, Aid India, Austin