Ashwin Batish - Sitar Power - Raga Rock, Raga Jazz!, Santa Cruz, CA
Hear the Sitar jamming with the bass, guitars, drums, tabla etc rocking out with a true East / West Blend that is high energy, fun and danceable. Ashwin Batish and his Sitar Power music has enthralled audiences from clubs such as Kuumbwa jazz tand Yoshi's San Francisco to some of the world's largest venues such as the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival and the New Jazz Festival in Germany.
Ashwin Batish is an extraordinary sitarist and tabla player. He received training in the North Indian classical tradition from his father S.D. 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 have earned him critical reviews and great respect in the music community.
“You could call it sambas, or Afro-Cuban, but it's beat music—with exotic, more cultural melodies on top,” says Batish, who describes the blend as “World Beat.” “You gotta get up and dance,” he says. “I think we don't, as a society, make it convenient enough for people to relax. With music we find an opportunity to escape … I can take my music and relax somebody, or put a smile on their face; they actually break out of their shell and share. They take a journey with me.” TREVOR STONEHOUSE - Good Times Santa Cruz
"Whether or not you’re familiar with the music, your mind is likely to be delightfully blown by what Batish creates." Tara Jepsen, SF Weekly, 2010
"This fusion is out of this world and ready to be heard everywhere. .... They were like waves of music crashing, one Indian, one Western and then both together. It was breathtaking." Brad Kava - Patch April, 2012
Ashwin Batish at the joshua Tree music Festival, California with sister and vocalist Meena Batish and Sitar Power lead percussionist and son Keshav Batish. All rights reserved. ©2012 Ashwin Batish. Copyrighted image. Photographer Chris Bratt
"Ashwin Batish has broken out of the classical Indian music mold into an electronic and electrifying style that is modern in every sense, but does not lose the melodic and often mysterious sound of India. In his way, he is making Indian music more accessible to the Western listener, bringing this music to the ears of people who otherwise would not make the effort to listen to more traditional players, such as Ravi Shankar or Ali Akbar Khan. He is bringing great music to all of us." Mary McCaslin - Santa Cruz Sentinel
"His trademark “sitar power”–which appears on the cap that he usually sports–was coined during this period. There is a strongly spiritual and even a metaphysical quality to the way he describes music. “You are by your very nature tuned like an instrument,” said Ashwin, “That is why music is so beautiful . . . With my sitar, if I play the top notes the bottom notes vibrate–it is called sympathetic vibration. In the same way, your body has sympathetic nerves that are already in you so that when you hear music they sympathize and this is how you can react . . . There is no theory behind why we do it; it is just in us. It is one of the laws of nature I would say . . . Literally we are all vibrations, so that is why a bunch of notes that are attractive to you are actually a part of you . . . You are a part of it and it is a part of you.”" Sarah Lin Bhatia, California Diaspora
The sitar is ageless in Ashwin's hands. It is souped up for amplification and effects! Try to catch one of Ashwin's electric performances. His music is as dynamic as his stage presence.
Keshav Batish on drum set - Sitar Power live at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz. All rights reserved. ©2012 Ashwin Batish. Copyrighted image. Photographer Chris BrattAshwin's son, Keshav, is only 14 years old but he is already a powerful tabla player, a phenomenal Trap drummer, and a truly amazing Santoor player. He has been studying music with Ashwin since birth! Some of his other favorite instrument of study are sitar, surbahar, mridangam and singing. He is a natural and he lights up the stage with his presence. Here is a recent review on Keshav's drumming .........
"His confidence and mastery of the drums was so far beyond his age. Maybe the best thing one can say about him is that he understood subtlety on the loudest instrument in the house, which is something not often developed in someone so young. He is going to be a superstar. You read it here first." Brad Kava, Patch
Mark your calendars so you don't miss one of their live performances!
PAST PERFORMANCES
Winnipeg Folk Festival, Canada / ISIM International Festival and Conference, USA / Vancouver Folk Festival, Canada / Montreal Jazz Festival, Canada / Earthsong Festival, Hamilton, Canada / Womad Festival, Toronto, Canada / Oxfam Worldfest, California, USA / World Music Festival, Michigan, USA / Quebec International Music Festival, Canada / Nassau Community College Folk Festival, New York, USA / Worldbeat Festival, Ottawa, Canada / National Arts Center, Ottawa, Canada / Club Nu, Miami, Florida, USA / Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, USA / New Jazz Festival, Moers, Germany / UCSC Performing Arts Theatre, USA / The Independent Club, San Francisco, California, USA / Wetlands Preserve, NY, USA. Opened for Big Brother and the Holding Company / Johnny D's, Somerville, MA, USA / WorldOne Music Festival, California / Great American Music Hall, California, USA / SOBs (Sounds of Brazil), NY, USA / San Jose Chamber Orchestra / Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California / Kuumbwa Jazz Center, , Santa Cruz, California / Joshua Tree Music Festival, California /
SOME RECENT PERFORMANCES
Date Venue Location Headliner
05/15/2010 Le Petit Trianon Th... San Jose, CATaylor Igesti - tabla
12/05/2011 UCSC Recital Hall Santa Cruz, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
12/28/2011 The Independent San Francisco, CA Open for Cracker - Worldbeat
07/31/2011 Don Quixote's Felton, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
10/23/2011 Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
12/18/2011 KPIG Radio's "Plea... Freedom, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
01/07/2012 Kali Ray Triyoga Ce... Santa Cruz, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
01/28/2012 Cabrillo CollegeAptos, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
02/11/2012 KKUP 91.5 FM Santa Clara, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
03/23/2012 Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
03/24/2012 Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
03/25/2012 Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco, CA Ashwin Batish - Traditional
04/08/2012 KPIG Radio's "Plea... Freedom, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
04/08/2012 KPIG 107.5 FM Watsonville, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
04/12/2012 KSCO 1080 AM Santa Cruz, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
04/14/2012 Kuumbwa Jazz Center Santa Cruz, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
05/20/2012 Joshua Tree Music FestSanta Cruz, CA Sitar Power - Worldbeat
07/10/2013 Yoshi's San Francisco - Full band concert
So call (831) 423-1699 or email us at info@batish.com to book this amazing and legendary World and Jazz artist.
