In pursuit of the link between blues and Indian folk

Rajasthani folk legend Lakha Khan and multi-instrumentalist Chazz will come together for a concert at Sundar Nursery over the weekend

Lakha Khan (Photo: Jacob Crawfurd)

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Sindhi sarangi exponent and Rajasthani folk vocalist Lakha Khan, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Chazz (Chaitanya Bhalla), along with The Princely States, will kick off this year’s first chapter of Amarrass Nights – a concert series organised by Delhi-based music label Amarras Records, on Sunday. Apart from their individual performances, the two acts will also have, an almost impromptu, fusion jam between their respective Rajasthani folk and electronic/jazz-blues styles.

Having already worked with the Rajasthani folk and Sufi music ensemble, Barmer Boys, Bhalla is excited to also collaborate with Khan, who won a Padma Shri in 2021. Bhalla reveals that the exact details of their performance have not been worked out, keeping it open to experimentation, with a “structure”.

Chaitanya Bhalla

Bhalla and Ashutosh Sharma of Amarrass decided on a blues and folk fusion with Khan “Lately, I have been working with a lot of musicians from diverse backgrounds and producing music for them. A few years ago, when I was working at Sushmit Sen’s (former Indian Ocean) studio, I met varied musicians and artists — from Hindustani classical, and folk to classical dance troupes. When I worked on the live recording of Barmer Boys in the studio, the results came as a happy surprise. Now, we have planned two tracks with Lakhji. The purpose is to find that link between traditional Western music theory and everything that Indian music has to offer,” says Bhalla

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Bhalla will perform with Delhi-based The Princely States with Tony Guinard on bass, Shantanu Sudarshan on drums, Shonai on keys, Aman Gupta on trumpet, Megumi D’Souza on vocals, and Guy Velvet on vocals and rapper Ixist, crooning originals and covers of a few popular blues tracks such and giving them a twist in the style of delta blues.

In the past Bhalla has collaborated with Delhi rapper Prabh Deep, The SkaVengers and with Kavya Trehan (as Kavya x Chaz), among others. An alumnus of the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood California, Bhalla is endorsed by Gibson Guitars and Ernie Ball Strings and has been a staple at music festivals around the world, including at Glastonbury, UK; Womad Festival, Spain; secret garden party, Commonwealth Games, Australia 2018. He has also composed music for some of the biggest global brands such as Ford, Hero Motocorp, Nissan, Samsung, Harley Davidson and The Indian Navy amongst others.

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