Aditya Kalyanpur goes beyond borders

From the days of the

Wah Taj!

commercial, where as an 11-year-old boy, he was seen playing the tabla alongside Ustad Zakir Hussain, Aditya Kalyanpur has come a long way. “I have had the privilege of learning under the tutelage of Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Allah Rakha Khan, and that has helped me reach where I am today.”

Global music confluence

Having performed at numerous international concerts since then, the percussionist has been exposed to various types of musical genres. Today, as a young and upcoming tabla percussionist, Kalyanpur, on his new album,

Beyond Borders

, brings about a unique confluence of three different types of global music genres.

Apart from the sounds of the tabla, the album also has the reverberations of the western santoor and the drums, which two American musicians, Max ZT Hammer and Matt Pert, have brought in. Reveals Kalyanpur, “An old school friend of mine introduced me to Max. Then once, I invited him over to my place and told him to get his instrument along. We didn’t talk much, just started to play impromptu and discovered that our instruments complimented each other wonderfully. That’s when I envisioned this album.”

Produced by his own company, AK Productions, the album also features Sayali Oak, an Indian vocalist. “Sayali and Matt are both good friends, and I’ve known and liked their work since some time now,” says Kalyanpur. “Matt is, in fact, learning to play the tabla from me. Incidentally, both of them were in town when I was coming up with this album. So I roped them in.”

First of its kind

Beyond Borders is a first of its kind for the percussionist, and will feature Indo Afro, jazz, ragas-based folk music and Hindustani classical on it. Some tracks also feature traditional music from Senegal.

“The album is, in many ways, different from my previous work, since you get to hear quite a few varied instruments together in it. I’m especially excited about Matt’s music, as he is a dulcimer prodigy,” smiles Kalyanpur, who will leave for a tour of the US and Canada with his other fusion group, Bombay Jazz, after performing with Hammer tonight.