WOMAD

Soumik Datta

From India, United Kingdom

The smartest sarod player on the block
Not too many of this weekend's artists can claim to have collaborated with a certain Beyonce Knowles. Nor to have been part of Bill Bailey's stadium-filling Tinselworm tour. Soumik Datta has both distinctions on an impressive CV that also includes working with Mercury Prize winner Talvin Singh; not bad for a young man still comfortably in his twenties. Playing the sarod - a sitar-like instrument more portable and nimbler than its better-known, chunkier cousin - this Brit-Asian induces a higher state of consciousness with his bluesy, drawn-out playing that often invokes Ry Cooder at his lonesome best. His seemingly effortless fast-fingered prowess can also dazzle and delight. With his eye on the decades ahead, Soumik's ability to bring together ancient and modern is a meeting of minds, not a clash - one that simultaneously respects and updates. As Talvin Singh himself says, the approach is "Darjeeling tea meets Coca-Cola!"
(Biography written by Nige Tassell 2010)

Soumoik Datta

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