All that jazz, for Dhruv Ghanekar
Dhruv Ghanekar tells us about his latest album Voyage
By : rahul thekdi
Update: 2015-06-16 02:15 GMT
Hyderabad: “If you have to ask what jazz is, you will never know,” said Louis Armstrong, the jazz legend. Speaking of jazz in India, one cannot not name, Dhruv Ghanekar. A music composer, guitarist and a singer, Dhruv’s performance was one of the eagerly awaited ones at the recently organised International Jazz Day at NCPA. About the event, he says, “It is always good to meet likeminded people under one roof and this is the only time, the whole music fraternity gets together.”
After the success of his first solo album Distance in 2008, he releases his second album Voyage. The album is a blend of music from North and West Africa, jazz, pop, Assamese folk, Rajasthani folk and classic rock. Describing the album, he says, “It is my journey through various international cultures as seen through my Indian lens. The music crosses many borders, I started writing it a few years ago. The idea came from a mere conversation — the marriage of these two sounds was screaming to be fused.”
The album has received tremendous response from music lovers across the country; it is ranked at number three on iTunes. The album features national as well as international award-winning artistes like Raul Midon, French bassist Etienne Ma Bappe, Algerian drummer Karim Ziad, Mauritian bassist Linley Marthe, grandmaster percussionist Trilok Gurtu, Rajasthani folksinger Ila Arun, Kartik Das Baul from West Bengal and singer-songwriter Vasuda Sharma.
Dhruv has special interest in indie music. He strongly believes that there are fewer platforms for new artistes to perform on. He says, “In a city like Mumbai, one stage is simply not enough, there should be at least 8-10 such venues.” This is one of the reasons behind him co-founding Blue Frog – it’s a platform that helps him promote new talent in the music industry.
He says, “Today, there is greater public acceptance for various kinds of music due to better exposure. Social media has played a vital role in doing so.” Dhruv was introduced to the world of music at the age of nine when he first started learning Indian classical music under Ustad Sultan Khan. His love for music is boundless. As he describes its place in his life: “Even if I want to, I cannot escape music.”