Artist Profiles: Sharda Sahai
August 18, 2018 Angel Romero	Leave a comment
Sharda Sahai began his study of tabla at an early age from his father, the late Pandit Bhagvati Sahai. Following his father's demise in 1946, he became a disciple of the inimitable Pandit Kanthe Maharaj, himself a disciple of Sharda Sahai's grandfather, Pandit Baldeo Sahai.
Sharda Sahai started his professional career at the age of nine, performing both as a soloist and as an accompanist. Throughout his career he has performed in over one thousand concerts worldwide.
He has accompanied almost every major artist of North Indian classical music including sitarists Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, and Nikhil Banerjee; sarodists Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan; and dancers Gopi Krishna and Birju Maharaj. He is one of the most highly respected musicians in India and since the 1970 when he first toured Europe and North America with Amjad Ali Khan that respect for him has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. Many Indian musicians and students look him on as an authoritative model of the Benares tradition.
The Art of the Benares Baj (Audiorec, 1983)
azon.com/gp/product/B0072M89Q6?ie=UTF8&tag=musidelmund-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=B0072M89Q6″>The Spirit of Benares (Audiorec)Compositions Of Benares (Audiorec Classics)
Gurukul (Sense World Music, 2005)
Play Tabla: A Video Guide to Playing Tabla
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has been writing about world music music for many years. He founded the websites worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. Angel produced several TV specials for Metropolis (TVE) and co-produced "Musica NA", a music show for Televisión Española (TVE) in Spain that featured an eclectic mix of world music, fusion, electronica, new age and contemporary classical music. Angel also produced and remastered world music albums, compilations and boxed sets for Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Music of the World.
IndiaIndian classical musicSharda Sahaitabla
Previous PostArtist Profiles: Harikumar SivanNext PostArtist Profiles: Ravi Shankar