As the next guest in our series of interviews, we bring to you Sanjeev Thomas. Sanjeev owns a studio in Chennai called Rainbow Bridge with its headline band by the same name. Another distinguished honor for Sanjeev is that he has been the lead guitarist for A.R. Rahman in his studio recordings as well as live concerts.

So where and how did it all begin for you?

I was born and brought up in Kuwait where I picked up the Guitar at the age of 8 after some coaxing from my dad. Although I learnt the guitar for some time, there was a lot of theory involved which got me bored and I had left it for some time. I completed my schooling in Kuwait and then moved to Chennai where I completed my degree. Although I was good at studying, I could never really see myself doing a day job.. I wanted to be a rockstar. So after playing the guitar for a few years, I started a few bands such as Buddha Blown and Buddha’s Babies. Then I started my own studio called Rainbow Bridge and the Rainbow Bridge Band started as the headline band for the studio.

How did the band come about? And what is the funda behind

the name Rainbow Bridge?

I started the Rainbow bridge studio around 5 years back.. And since the studio needed a headline band, I formed the band. The name just came from the studio’s name. Rainbow bridge basically stands for all kinds of artists coming down under one roof.

Fusion is too generic a term to classify your music. How would you describe Rainbow

Bridge’s music?

I had a couple of bands before Rainbow Bridge(Buddha’s Babies and Buddha Blown).  Rainbow Bridge started by taking those songs and reinventing them. We do all kinds of music and it would be difficult to classify it into any one genre. This is what we call the Independent or indie rock.

Where is the Indian Rock scene headed? Would it ever be as popular in India as it is in

the west?

Be it India or west, the Indie Rock scene does not have popularity. It has always been an underground movement. However, the west has the infrastructure to support upcoming underground artists. India so far does not have that. So, most of the upcoming artists find it difficult to sustain themselves and end up either going into mainstream commercial music or quit music altogether.

Playing alongside A R Rahman is a dream come true moment for any Indian musician. And

you have been playing with him for quite some time now.  Tell us more about your

experience with the maestro.

Around three and a half years ago I got a call inviting me to work with Rahman on the “Vote for Taj” campaign. It was a shocker for me. Ever since, I have worked with him on a number of projects which include studio recordings and live concerts. Live concerts with Rahman are always great fun because there are a minimum of 75,000 people at any concert. A particular concert I remember was one at Cochin. I had entered in a crane that was high above the ground and balancing ourselves in the crane while playing the instruments was a real adventure.

Being a guitarist it is quite obvious you would have your idols. Could you please name

them?

Having been brought up in the late 70s/80s, I was initially a huge fan of disco music. So I would say, my first influence were the Bee-Gees. Later on I got into heavy/death metal where I liked bands such as Sepultura. . Ony after this did I discover the 70s Rock’n’Roll with bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin etc.

Any plans of getting into mainstream commercial/bollywood music?

I am already into commercial music. I do production for a lot of commercial movies and albums in my studio. Although as a youngster I was against pop music, I have grown to believe that no kind of music is bad music. So now I produce all kind of music including hip-hop, bollywood etc. Although I would always have a soft spot for indie rock music as I started off with that music.

What are the future projects, both on your individual front and the band front?

The first thing I am looking forward to is the release of my album later this year. The album will have a variety of genres of music. Secondly, I am looking forward to the world tour with Rahman. I am also doing a lot of projects in bollywood with the likes of Anu Malik and Pritam. Although I have always been a guitarist, I am also looking forward to my career in singing. I am already singing for my own band but I am also recording a few songs that would be released in movies in the upcoming year.

We eagerly look forward to the release of Sanjeev’s album and wish him the best for all his future projects!

For more on Sanjeev’s music visit his myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/rainbowbridgeindia

Wake

Meherbaan – Instrumental

Freewill

It is always a great challenge for a musician to make his debut with a classic song, which has in the past been covered by many great artists, and turn out a commendable job of it. And if that wasn’t challenging enough, consider a case where the musician himself does the instruments, modified lyrics and in the end launches the song on his own label. This “all-rounder” happens to be Dilpreet Bhatia, a Delhi-based folk-rock singer/songwriter, who recently came out with his debut single, a tribute to the great Nusrat Fateh Ali. Dilpreet is our spotlight artist for the week.

Let us start with a brief about you, your

musical background and so on.

I am based in Delhi, but spent most of my childhood in a small town of Fatehabad in Haryana, Started learning music from my teachers at school there. Performed in school and college fests but never thought that I would take music so seriously. Went to Bangalore for a Software Job and suddenly I started feeling that something is missing out here…I cant live without performing, without music. I came to Delhi and started learning Hindustani Classical from my Guruji Sumitra Guha and kept on trying and trying to do what I love to do, perform where ever I could and write whatever I felt….

Trying to cover a classic, especially by someone like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is always a

high risk venture, with high chances of the song not going down well with purists, fans et

al. Nevertheless you chose to do just that (and did a beautiful job of it, we should add!).

So why Nusratji? And why this particular song?

I must say that I am honored, and thanks a lot for your kind words. I am a great fan of Nusrat Ji…his compositions are legendary. And the simple reason I chose this song was that ‘I loved it’ and I could relate to this song. I was not thinking of any risk when i was improvising it.  I hope you would have noticed that the antra of this song is not what Nusrat Ji have sung. What he has done, is legendary. And lot of artists like Kailash Kher, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and NFAK have sung this song before.  but extending it, writing new antras and giving them a whole tune…ya it may be scary but this is how I feel one with the song and I am honored that people liked this version and I hope that if he(Nusrat Ji) could listen to this song from up there, he wont scold me after hearing it…

At a time when most Punjabi songs tend towards the cacophonous orchestration, it is

refreshing to hear purely acoustic songs which bring out the real beauty of Punjabi Sufi

music. Was the arrangement entirely handled by you as well? And who is the pianist?

Ya, I did the music arrangement, recording and mixing for this song at my home studio, and all the intruments on this song, including piano, are played by me.

Today the easiest path to fame is quite evidently reality shows, and there have been many

who got their 15 minutes (and more) of fame through this. And considering you have good

talent as well, why did you not opt for that route?

I never thought its a good option for me.

This song has been launched via your own private label, Sur & Soul Records. Do you plan

to go big on the labels front, by trying to launch albums of other artists as well, or are you

going to employ Sur & Soul for your songs alone?

Sur ‘n’ Soul Records will not be limited to my songs alone, we have plan to launch other artists as well, mostly associated with hindustani classical. But it will remain an Indie Label.

Needless to say, launching a single costs a lot of money. Is music your sole bread-winner,

or are you employed otherwise?

I am also working as Lead Software Engineer for creative software giant Adobe Systems Inc.

You have come out with your first single now. When do you plan to launch a full album? And is that going to be all covers or are you working on some own comps as well?

The full album is already ready, Its in Punjabi, and songs have been written, composed and sung by me and directed by Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins. I have also collaborated with 6 times Grammy Winning Mixing Engineer Ken Lewis for one of songs in this Album. We are right now showcasing it to labels and hopefully it should be out very very soon.

The staple musician question – who are your influences?

Ghulam Ali, Nusrat Ji, Pt Jasraj, U2, A R Rahman and my Guruji Sumitra Guha, have had the greatest influence on me and my music.

A lot of Indian musicians are currently collaborating with international musicians with

great success. Have you explored that possibility?

Yes, I have recently completed recording a song for UK based producer Shammi Pithia, Did one song with Ken Lewis, which is featured in my upcoming album, and currently working on a multiple song project with Canadian band Nawticks.

Next pitstop would be Bollywood we are guessing. Anything on that front yet?

Nothing on that front right now, this Single and Album have been keeping me busy for now, but ya, I am surely gonna give it a shot.
We wish you all the best, and hope your debut album happens soon indeed.
Another spotlight artist coming up your way soon!

The name Amartya Rahut might not ring a bell in most minds. But I doubt there is a person who wouldn’t have heard at least one of his many works on TV, which range from the jingle for Cadbury’s Perk to Colors Channel Signature Tune to his award-winning Punjabicized version of Jingle Bells created for Nickelodeon. His religious views, as per facebook, is “John Lennon is God”. That gives a general idea of how committed this guitarist-composer is to music.

Amartya’s first shot to fame was his fusion band in early 2000s, OM, which he formed with the now-famous Amit Trivedi and three other guys. He did his Bollywood debut last year with Aagey Se Right, but it unfortunately didn’t attain success in spite of being a good album. The man is currently busy with the works of his new band Nine which debuted at the Kala Ghoda Festival on Feb 12. We decided to catch up with Amartya aka Bobo and get his story for our readers. Read on then!

Let us start with your pre-OM days. Your

musical upbringing et al.

I have been a professional freelance guitar player from my school days in Calcutta… Have played with some of the premium bands of that time… Namely Shiva, Fifth Dimension, Asteroids, Cactus, Paras Pathar….

But personally I have always wanted to compose original songs and ideally wanted to do it on a national platform and not be restricted to any regional space… So shifted base to Mumbai in 2000.

In Mumbai started off with whatever little work I would get initially in advertising… And the struggle which I guess every migrant in Mumbai faces in our industry….

How did OM come about? The five of you are seemingly people from different

backgrounds, both geographically and musically.

During my initial advertising days in Mumbai I started working with Amit Trivedi (Dev D/Aamir)… He used to be my arranger for all my advertising sessions… His friends were Sriram and Ram…and one fine day we got together and created Om… We were pretty lucky I must say to get times music to spend on our album pretty much as soon as we had started the band…

I have read you as being credited as composer for OM in many places. Just want to clarify

whether it was entirely your effort, coz in at least a couple of songs (Baadal and Tum Tana

especially) I have got an improv sort of feel.

My part in Om was being the composer and guitar player for the band… Sriram composed a few tracks on his own… Amit arranged all the songs and Baadal was a traditional piece which we jammed on…

Om was formed in 2002. I believe you came out with the album some time in 2004. And

after such a brilliant debut nothing was heard of Om again. What happened? Is there a

possibility of a reunion in future?

Unfortunately, after the album released, although we did get decent response, our personal goals seemed to be pretty individualistic…as for myself I was already composing on a regular level for premium mainstream advertising commercials, Amit the other key member of Om was working with me… Ram and Sriram had full time corporate jobs… So it fell apart… And now it seems pretty unlikely that there will be a reunion…

Coming back to your individual exploits, after your stint with Om you were lying low, at

least to the public eye, till Aagey Se Right came about in late 2009. What were you doing in

this long hiatus?

After Om, I scored the music for for 2 Marathi films for a friend of mine , director Bipin Nadkarni… The National award winning Uttarayan and Evdhasa Aabhal… I got the State award, Zee Alfa award, and the V Shantaram Puraskar for the above films…

Along with all this my advertising stint continued on a regular level… Personally I love composing for ads… As the time frame is limited, the money being good… And the job, very challenging… One needs to be on his toes everyday to score advertising music…

Along with advertising I do a lot of television work as well… The channel signature tunes of Colors and Real have been composed by me. Last year, ‘KHATRON KE KHILADI”, “CHOTE MIYAN”, “BIG BOSS” AND “NATIONAL BINGO”etc…

In 2009 I did Aagey Se Right… Again for a friend of mine from my advertising background, Indrajit Nattoji… I still wish the music had been promoted a little… There was almost zero publicity as far as the music of the film was concerned…

What other Bollywood projects have you got coming up?

Currently, working on a couple of film projects …but no point in naming them now…as I have realized one simple thing as far as feature films are concerned…till they release one never knows what the outcome is going to be…because it is a big affair and I guess there are lots of variables attached to a film…so, being a little superstitious about it (hehe)..

Congratulations on your debuting your new band Nine at the Kala Ghoda festival. Tell us

more about the band. When is Nine’s official album going to hit the shelves?

Currently I am occupied working on the band Nine with two extremely talented and dear friends, Neelesh Mishra and Shilpa Rao… Nine was completely Neelesh’s idea…I am simply composing the songs and creating the music to his thoughts….. And things are shaping up well… Hopefully this year the album should release…

To be parting on a light note, mind telling us the history behind your famous nickname

Bobo?

As far as Bobo is concerned…a very strange uncle of mine (this is the story passed on to me by my dad), had this brilliant idea of naming me Bobo when I was a baby…and its stuck till date (hahaha)…

Whoever I meet for the first time, I introduce myself as Amartya…by our third meeting he starts calling me Bobo…so that’s a comic tragic affair I have to live with I guess!!!

Well here is wishing Amartya all success with his upcoming Bollywood ventures, and Nine. As an ardent fan of OM I do sincerely hope that a reunion of OM happens in spite of Bobo’s misgivings! We shall be back with another artist soon. Below are some videos of Amartya’s past works.

Piya by OM, reproduced with the artist’s permission

Amartya’s rehash of Jingle Bells for Nickelodeon which won the Promax 2009 award for best music

A Condom awareness ad with music composed by Amartya

Virtuoso Pamelia Kurstin performs and discusses her theremin, the not-just-for-sci-fi electronic instrument that is played without being touched. Songs include “Autumn Leaves,” “Lush Life” and David Mash’s “Listen, Words Are Gone.”

The theremin, the first electronic instrument ever invented, was on the brink of historic oblivion when it was rescued from obscurity by director Steven Martin’s classic 1994 documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey . And while a few brave souls have sought to master this temperamental instrument since then, none have done so with more sly effervescence than Pamelia Kurstin.
From the rock-steady composure she assumes behind the instrument (necessary lest her breathing drive the sensors out of tune), one might presume a shrinking conservatory personality, but a quick glance at the MySpace page or website of the self-described “bird-punching rollerskating thereminist” will quickly dash any of these quaint notions. Far from being a quirky curiosity, however, Kurstin is a sensitive, emotional stylist capable of coaxing sublime melodic content out of an instrument usually doomed to B-movie sci-fi soundtracks. (And her walking bass imitation is pretty cool too.)
Born in Los Angeles, Kurstin currently resides in Vienna, and performs with acclaimed eccentric rockers Barbez, among many others. Her latest solo CD, Thinking Out Loud, was released in 2007 on John Zorn’s legendary Tzadik label. She’ll bathe your dog and give you a haircut (”if you’re daring,” she warns) in exchange for a six-pack.

Vishal Vaid and his band explore a traditional South Asian musical form in this mesmerizing improv performance. Sit back and let his music transport you.

About Vishal Vaid

Vishal Vaid brings a modern perspective to the traditional music of India, creating melodies that evoke his culture’s past while shaping popular music’s future.

Vishal Vaid has trained in the traditional art of ghazal (an ancient form of poetry, often performed in song) since he was three years old. Today, his performances blend Eastern and Western, ancient and contemporary to create spellbinding music. He has performed throughout the world, appearing on television shows in New York, London, India, and Morocco, and has worked with renowned artists Anoushka Shankar, Bill Laswell, Michael Franti, Karsh Kale and Midival Punditz. He had in fact sung in MP’s last album Hello Hello

In addition, he provided vocals to the electronic-oriented band Bhoom Shankar formed by Karsh Kale and credited with beginning the popular genre of music known as Asian Massive within the electronica community.

After his path-breaking music for Morning Raga alongside Manisharma made waves in the music world in 2004, Amit Heri was not to be seen much in the public eye for quite a long time, except for performances. After close to five years, this year he has come out with a bang, first with a contemporary jazz album and then with a world music album. While the former, Elephant Walk, is a re-release of his 1998 jazz fusion album, Jhoola the world music album is a fresh look at the folk music forms from various parts of India. Amit Heri talks to Music Aloud about his music and the contemporary Indian music scene.

Could you tell us a bit about your initial stages, ie, after

Berklee till the release of Elephant Walk? Was the name

Elephant Walk some sort of tribute to Mancini?

I went to Berklee first time in 1989 (17 years old) and finally came back in 1996. Between 1996 & 1998 (when I recorded Elephant Walk) , I was busy setting myself up professionally in India, playing with musicians like Ramamani, Louiz Banks, Shankar Mahadevan, Ranjit Barot, Karl & Keith Peters and many others. I also performed a lot with my group and composed music for dance, theatre, tv and radio. I also performed extensively in Europe with legendary Saxophonist Charlie Mariano during this time.
I’ve visited the jungles of Bandipur and Madhumalai (close to Mysore) several times since I was kid. I think it’s the largest elephant sanctuary in Asia and is one of my favourite places. The tune was named after those magnificent animals – Elephant Walk. No connection with Mancini.

After the release of Bangalore in 2000, there was a long hiatus till Morning Raga in 2004.

What is it that kept you busy in those four years?

I always keep myself busy with music – studying, performing, composing and teaching. During this time I was performing with Trilok Gurtu for almost 2 years all over the world at some major festivals. Also recorded with him, performed with my group in India and did a lot of composition/production work. Scored the music for Mahesh Dattani’s film Mango Souffle.

How did Morning Raga happen? Was there a Bangalore connection to it, considering that

Mahesh Dattani was also brought up in Bangalore?

Mahesh and me are good friends and we have a great working relationship. We enjoyed working on Mango Souffle and Mahesh thought that my style would be perfect for what he had in mind for Morning Raga.

Morning Raga was undoubtedly a runaway hit, at least on the musical front. But why was

there no further composition from Amit Heri in Bollywood?

Being a Bollywood music director has never really been a great desire of mine. Hence, i haven’t made a conscious effort to get into the Bollywood scene. To work in Bollywood you need to be part of the scene, in Mumbai, hustling with the directors/producers etc or you need to be a hit in your local regional scene and get recognized there, both of which I didn’t really put energy into. Didn’t get any calls from Bollywood either in response to Morning Raga. That’s the reason.

How much of your compositions evolve from informal jamming sessions? In Hills of Grace

from your latest Jhoola we hear strings in Raag Hamsadhwani with Amazing Grace plus

some ghatam knocks thrown in, and even in Bathing Devi the tribal rendition doesn’t

sound at all like a studio recording. We are curious to know about the conception of

these songs.

An integral part of music for me is the interaction of musicians on stage and the energy that comes from that. For the majority of my study & career, I have played & performed with musicians & that defines me as a musician. So, naturally when I compose or produce this aspect is a strong influence in how I feel and think about the music and I am conscious about capturing this in the recording. Besides, an album for me is something that I want to take on the road & perform. That’s the end goal of JHOOLA too.

Some purists have criticised fusion saying its neither here nor there. What’s your take on

this?

As a musician, you need to study, experience, have a deep understanding intellectually and emotionally and be able to express naturally in each form of music before you try to bring multiple forms together. Only if you have experience & understanding of various cultures as a human being first, will you be able to create music that sounds natural and with meaning while bringing together multiple styles. Not many people have this experience and try their hand at ‘fusion’, perhaps resulting in a lack of depth as perceived by listeners and hence the criticism.

Are you influenced by Indian film music? Who is your favourite Indian composer?

I’m not really influenced that much by Indian film music. Although, I do enjoy the melodies of songs from old Indian films – beautiful. Amongst the present – day music directors, I enjoy Rahman & Shankar Mahadevan’s works.

Of late Bollywood music is seeing a gradual shift towards World music with a lot of

rock/jazz elements coming in (Leaving out the plagiaristic inclusion of such music!!).

Your take on this?

Rahman was the one who really started the trend and now it’s become part of Bollywood music. I like it when done well.

We don’t see a lot of Indian bands/artists making it big in the international scene. What do

you think the reason for this could be?

To make it in the international scene, firstly Indian artists need to have ’something to show’ that works in that scene and then either need to work with well known international artists/producers or have artist managers, promoters, booking agents who can push them into projects abroad. Very few Indian artists have been fortunate in achieving that.

Four years between Bangalore and Morning Raga. Five years between Morning Raga and

Jhoola. How much longer will fans have to wait for Amit Heri’s next album?

I have enough music to record at least another 3 albums. If there are companies wanting to do that, it will be sooner than later.

For the sake of good music, Music Aloud hopes that companies come forward pretty soon to make those prospective albums happen.
You can read Music Aloud’s reviews of Jhoola and Elephant Walk by clicking on the album names here.

His work first came into spotlight a couple of years back when he captured the freshness of teenage love and effectively summarised the youthful romance of the movie Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar through its title song. Thought the song was missing in the movie per se, it became very popular with the college-goers and others alike. This year his next Bollywood work, the title song of Aloo Chaat, is again getting decent reviews around. In the meantime he is pretty active on the advertising field as well with a more recent one being Ranbir Kapoor’s Pepsi My Can ad.In spite of all this, the man himself hasn’t been much in the limelight. Music Aloud decided to catch up with ex-Parikrama guitarist Vipin Mishra in his atelier where he is doing the final touch-ups to his first full-fledged Bollywood album, Aarif Sheikh’s Lets Dance.

Could you tell us a bit about your musical beginnings?

I saw Parikrama perform at just about the time they were formed, in the winter of 1991. I was finishing class 11th, and that got me interested at the whole prospect of playing rock guitar through 25000 watts of sound!
The learning started towards .. 1992-93.
Formed a band in college, auditioned for Parikrama in 1995, IInd Year Eco Hons, Delhi Univ, joined them, toured for 6 odd years, more than a 100 odd shows, got a bit bored, played guitars with Silk Route, started doing some commercial work, set up a project studio, got bored, moved to Mumbai, 2005.
Happy and not bored till now!!

From Parikrama to MP3 to Aloo Chaat, how do you think you and your music have evolved?

Parikrama is and was a genre specific band. Hard Rock! So that’s one change. My music as of now is freestyle.. Jazz, hip hop, world, orchestral, ethnic…just meandering and free flowing.
Secondly the approach. From a guitar player, to composer.You have to hear the song in totality in your head.

What do you listen to during your leisure time?

Mornings, jazz with newspaper and coffee. Adhoc : U2, Rehman, Coldplay, Keane, Toto,Leonard Cohen (For the words!), Maroon 5, Paul Rogers,Silk Route, A-Ha Old Stff, Tears For Fears.. the list goes on and on.. Zep, Floyd, Crowes..

What kind of music can fans expect out of Let’s Dance?

Well, Its like hip hop and 80s mixed up. Even the ballads and a slower “fight against all odds” tune has a mid tempo hip hop groove to it. Its a young album.

Which artists have influenced you the most?

Whole lotta them, but in the domestic scene, I d have to say A.R.Rehman. He’s the reason why so many of us, who scoffed a “Filmi” music through our teens are here! He showed class can succeed with masses.

As an upcoming music composer, what is your take on the growing influence of Western,

especially electronic, elements in contemporary Indian music?

Music, like any other art, is a reflection of contemporary society. There is a huge exchange of ideas, ideologies, influences, information. The west is turning to the east, and the east is absorbing the west…it’s a brand new pie. Like heritage architecture must be preserved, so must traditional music be promoted. But at the same time, we must not grudge the great new shiny, mighty and beautiful towers which may come up. Because that’s the result of what architects today think of as “beautiful” and where people aspire to reside “today”.

Would you mind telling us about your upcoming projects?

Well there are a few, but nothing concrete as of now.

With the advent of various music sites such as myspace on the one hand, and the plethora

do you think are the challenges facing the wannabe musicians? Words of advice?

That’s a very broad question and is an interview by itself. So we’ll do this another time, but in short…

(For Composers) I believe a person chooses a creative art from cause he as something to say. He has a perspective, has opinions and looks for a form to express them..So most importantly, you should have something to say…and not browse Korean, Indonesian, Thai, Arabic, regional and other world music web pages for inspiration!
(For Singers) Gone are the days of mimics. Find yourself and be yourself. The further apart and proficient you are, greater are your chances of getting noticed.

While Music Aloud looks forward to Lets Dance and more from this young music director, you can check out Vipin’s website for more details and more music.

Music video of Chalta Chal, a song written, composed and performed by Vipin Mishra for a single.

Promo video of the title track of Aloo Chaat done by Vipin Mishra.

Music video of Aaj Kal, written, composed and performed by Vipin Mishra.

Title track of Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar

Dhruv Ghanekar has released his debut solo album titled Distance. For those who must wondering who this guy is, here is a brief history of Dhruv.

Exposed to classical music from the age of 9, Dhruv had the fortune of receiving tutelage from the great Sarangi exponent Ustad Sultan Khan.  His interest towards jazz led him to Berkley School of Music. In between he formed a rock band named Chakraview, and later teamed up with Ashutosh Pathak to form Smoke Studios, composing music for ads and alternative movies which included small-time movies like Bombay Boys, White Noise etc. He also released an album called Smoke with Ashutosh Phatak which received considerable airplay on MTV and Channel V. Dhruv then went solo into music composition and grabbed the spotlight when he composed some memorable music for the utterly forgettable movie, Drona. Dhruv also runs an establishment called Blue Frog, which is a studio, a performance club and a production house all rolled into one.

Dhruv’s command over both jazz music and classical music makes his fusion songs a delectable experience for aficionados. The same can be said about Distance, which is a world/fusion music disc with jazz and Indian classical overtones. The songs grab one’s attention through some slick guitar work. You can hear snippets of the tracks at his Myspace page. You can also listen to bits of other works of Dhruv on his second myspace page. It will be interesting to see how far this man traverses along the path of Indo-jazz fusion trodden by greats like John McLaughlin and Louiz Banks.