Musicians Taufiq Qureshi and Bickram Ghosh on their album, ‘RamTa’
The chilly Sunday evening, hosted by Kolkata Centre for Creativity, at a city club was all about beats and rhythm. When you get to see these two fantastic musicians performing—Taufiq Qureshi on djembe and Bickram Ghosh on tabla, accompanied by three young musicians: Abhishek Mallick on sitar, Anay Gadgil on keyboard, and John Paul on guitar—performing pieces from their newest album RamTa, you know that you can’t sit quietly and listen to them like any other musical evening. On the sidelines of their album launch and performance, we speak with them to learn about their collaboration and more.
Tell us about RamTa.
Taufiq: RamTa is all about ‘Ram’ from Bickram and ‘Ta’ from Taufiq. Literally, ramta means playfulness, which we are, when on stage (laughs). We have been playing together for years now. We have a good camaraderie and good understanding, and we respect each other. We have a lot of similarities, where our idols, music, mindsets, and philosophies are concerned, so it was good to bring all that into an album.
I saw you rehearsing just once before the show. How do you manage? How is just one cue enough?
Bickram: When we come on stage, we’re not unprepared because both of us have had a journey of 30 years. We are bringing that knowledge and experience to the stage. When we meet people who have played just one concert or haven’t played at all—like our guitarist John—we come on stage and we discuss through music and figure out who will do what. The knowledge base is so strong that it hardly takes a minute or minute-and-a-half for me to pick up something he’s going to tell me or for him to pick up something I’m going to say. Of course, there will be one or two things that I don’t know or they don’t know, but we exchange notes. But the general idea is that if you know, learning doesn’t take much time on this stage. That is what we are depending on.
Taufiq: Also, when you rehearse too much, it becomes very mechanical. You have to keep certain things loose. I am one of those guys, and I think even he doesn’t believe in having 10, 15 or 20 rehearsals. If you get just one, even that is good because a lot of what we do is spontaneous. And that is the beauty of it.
Your dads are legendary musicians, you’re renowned musicians yourselves, and now you're dads too. Is there any pressure on your kids from your end to continue the legacy?
Taufiq: My son plays.
Bickram: My son is trying. I put a little pressure that he should at least learn. After that, whether he wants to pursue it or not, it’s up to him.
Taufiq: No, I didn’t have to give any pressure because since childhood he was the same. When he was in his third standard or something, maybe fourth, they had to do a project on “Aim in life.” He wrote “I will be an astronaut” and he had to read it in front of the class. He read it and was about to go back to his seat, but came back and said, “Actually, I want to be a musician.” He said that and his teacher was so happy. She was like “Wow, your son is amazing. He can’t even imagine being anything else.”
Your father (Ustad Alla Rakha Khan) and brother (Ustad Zakir Hussain) have been legends. What made you take up percussion other than tabla?
Taufiq: Well, because I realised that the A (Alla Rakha) to Z (Zakir) of music was over. I thought I had to do something different. If I need to be noticed, they should look at me and say that I have to do something different. So, I chose a different path. Back in 1986, I told my father that I wanted to stop playing classical music because I had started working in Bollywood.
From 1988 to 1997, I was in the studio regularly, and my live playing went for a toss. I played in a concert with Zakir bhai, and I was so bad that my wife gave me an earful saying, “You come from a family of percussionists and look where you are going.” I said, if I stop recording, the money will stop too. We had just bought a new house, and our son was born. She said it didn’t matter—I had to start playing.
So, I stopped recording. But what now? All that knowledge in my head had to come out through some other source. And that’s why I chose the djembe. The thrill of playing on stage, and on a good day, there’s no greater high in life.
RamTa is available on YouTube.
