Ashwin Batish

Sitar Power 2 - More fusions of Surf, Funk, Country, Jazz with Indian Music

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About me:Ashwin Batish is an extraordinary sitarist and tabla player. He received training in the North Indian classical tradition from his father Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish and later created his own unique fusion of Indian classical sitar with pop, rock, jazz, calypso, funk... an example of a few hybrids he excels at. He is famous for such songs as the Bombay Boogie, Raga Rock, Raga Jazz, Casbah Shuffle and Sitar Mania. His pioneering efforts in worldbeat music has earned him critical reviews and great respect in the music community. The sitar is ageless in Ashwin's hands. It is souped up for amplification and effects! We hope you get to catch one of Ashwin's electric performances. His music is as dynamic as his stage presence.

Ashiwn's son Keshav is only 12 years old but fast becoming a powerful tabla player. He has been studying music with his father, Ashwin Batish, since his birth! Some of his other favorite instrument of study are sitar, santoor, surbahar mridangam and singing. He is a natural and lights up the stage with his presence.

Mark your calendars so you don't miss one of their live performances!

Media Reviews:
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It's powerful, it's magical! .... Stops you dead in your tracks the first time you hear it .... Batish rips on the Sitar" - Tower
Records, Pulse.

"Sitar Power is a mind blowing mix of modern funk gadgetry and classical Eastern flavor. This is no novelty. Batish has been called a sitar master by fellow musicians and critics alike." - CMJ, NY

"The chasm between Western popular and the sedate, ponderous world of Indian classical music is not an easy one to bridge, however. Western popular music is geared to meeting the needs of a fast-paced lifestyle: It's immediate, sensuous, and hits the senses with a bang." - India West, California

"The Frank Zappa of the sitar has finally released his second volume of Sitar Power. It's been nine years and he has gotten even more experimental." - Dirty Linnen, NY

"If you think that fusion - music that combines the sounds of different traditions - is passe, you need to hear Ashwin Batish's latest. This compact disc contains eight new tracks which breathe new life into the fusion genre." - India Currents, California

Review by Eugene Chadbourne
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There was a period of time when the sitar, or at least the cheapo electric guitar version of it, was heard on practically every pop hit. But disregarding this curious part of pop history, the creation of any kind of hybrid of American and Indian music has happened mostly in India, not in America. Something of a minor hit for an independent album when it was first released, Sitar Power is one of the few breakthroughs that happened on the American continent, courtesy of a talented and charming gent whose connection to the aforementioned Indian pop influence was pretty direct: Ashwin Batish's father was one of the Indian musicians who worked on the Beatles' Help! soundtrack. The multi-tracking and arrangements that Batish so meticulously created on this set of instrumentals are almost as much of a marvel as his exciting, technically stunning sitar work. All the same there is something cheesy about these accompaniments, although that is part of the charm, like the British style of serving chips at a curry house. One unforgettable image of Batish over the years was a private demonstration he provided for a Canadian Broadcasting Company host while performing at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Seated on a stool in the midst of an empty prairie, Batish played rapid-fire sitar licks over the top of what
sounded like a full-band backing, all coming out of a set of sequencers and effects racks in a small box at his feet. He seems to be one of those multi-trackers that spends forever working on pieces and sometimes never stops tinkering, which might explain why he only completed two volumes of music such as this when there is clearly a demand for more. In that sense the success of this album is also a
nice part of the '80s home-taping scene, Batish establishing an early mastery of the type of new recording technology that would move many artists out of the realm of the recording studio for good. In addition, the strength that indie labels had in the '80s was also one of the reasons that a record such as this, at first released on the artist's own Batish label, eventually would pick up something
of a global following, including the popularity of the "Bombay Boogie" track at the hippest German discos. Sifting through all these positives, a listener can be an alchemist and attempt to isolate the gold or single element that makes this project work so well. The inevitable answer is Batish himself -- beyond the instrumental virtuosity, his joy with what he is doing comes across as a specific within the general sense of his exuberant personality.

Member Since:April 9, 2010

Last Login:May 3, 2012

Location:Santa Cruz, CA

Birthday:January 1

Music means to me:Genres: World / North Indian Classical, Fusion Sitar
Label: Batish Records, Santa Cruz, California, USA. Website: www.batish.com

Management:
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Bookings - Randy Perkins / Red Ridge Entertainment, Nashville, TN, USA.
Road and Personal Manager - Andrew Foehner
Media Contact: Surendra Batish, Andrew Foehner

General Interests:Management:
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Manager and Promotions
Andrew Foehner
andrew@sonicdharma.com

Other Distractions:Some Past Performances:
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Winnipeg Folk Festival, Canada - Main Stage Lineup: Sitar Power Group with Ashwin Batish on Sitar and Tabla, Myron Dove on Bass, Jeff

Pittson on Keyboards and Tracy Rose on Traps

ISIM International Festival and Conference, USA - Ashwin Batish Sitar, Keshav Batish Tabla with special guest Karlton Hester on Flute

Winnipeg Folk Festival, Canada - Main Stage Lineup: Ashwin Batish, Sitar & Tabla, S D Batish, and Meena Batish. Special Guest Myron Dove on Bass

Vancouver Folk Festival, Canada - Solo with Tracks, plus live workshop / performances with other artists present

Montreal Jazz Festival, Canada - Solo with Tracks

Earthsong Festival, Hamilton, Canada - Solo with Tracks

Womad Festival, Toronto, Canada - Solo with Tracks plus performance workshops with other WOMAD artists

Oxfam Worldfest, California, USA - Solo with Tracks

World Music Festival, Michigan, USA - Solo with Tracks

Quebec International Music Festival, Canada - Sitar Power Group with Ashwin Batish on Sitar and Tabla, Myron Dove on Bass, Kristen Strom on Sax, Jason Lewis on Trap Drums, and Scott Sorkin on Guitar

Nassau Community College Folk Festival, New York, USA

Worldbeat Festival, Ottawa, Canada - Sitar Power Group with Ashwin Batish on Sitar and Tabla, Myron Dove on Bass, Kristen Strom on Sax, Jason Lewis on Trap Drums, and Scott Sorkin on Guitar

National Arts Center, Ottawa, Canada - Solo with Tracks

Club Nu, Miami, Florida - Solo Sitar Power with Tracks. Opened for When In Rome

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, USA, - Batish Family and Sitar Power, Vancouver Folk Festival, Canada - Solo Sitar Power,

New Jazz Festival, Moers, Germany - The Daffy Duck Dozen Group with Dr. Eugene Chadbourne, guitar — Ashwin Batish, Sitar — Jimmy Carl Black, drums — Evan Johns, lap steel — Don Preston, piano — Murray Reams, percussion — Brian Ritchie, bass — Leslie Ross, bassoon — Jonathan Segel, violin,mandolin — Tony Trischka, Banjo — Chris Turner, harp — Bob Wiseman, accordion

UCSC Performing Arts Theatre, USA - Ashwin Batish In Concert with Zakir Hussain Tabla Classical Music of North India

The Independent Club, San Francisco, California, USA - Ashwin Batish on Sitar and Keshav Batish on Tabla

Wetlands Preserve, NY, USA - Sitar Power Solo with tracks. Opened for Big Brother and the Holding Company

Johnny D's, Somerville, MA, USA - Sitar Power solo with tracks

WorldOne Music Festival, California - Sitar Power set with Keshav Batish on Percussion

Great American Music Hall, California, USA - Ashwin Batish Sitar - Zakir Hussain Tabla - John Kaizan Neptune Shakuhachi Flute - David Harnish Guitar

SOBs (Sounds of Brazil), NY, USA - Sitar Power Solo with tracks

SHOWS FOR Ashwin Batish's TRACKED ARTISTS

within miles of EverywhereGo

Date Artist Venue Location

Ashwin Batish's Journal

Ashwin Batish and Keshav Batish - Sitar Power: Fri 4/9/2010 6:20PM; Got a few shows coming up: May 15th and 16th I will be playing tabla for the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. More event details can be seen at my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104838599548797