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Rakesh Chaurasia: I can’t think of any album that comes close to this
Updated On: 20 November, 2023 06:55 AM IST | Mumbai | Sonia Lulla
Making his Grammy debut with a bang, flautist Rakesh Chaurasia on earning three nods for the gala for his album along with Meyer, Fleck and Hussain
Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia
Veteran flautist Rakesh Chaurasia and musicians, banjo great Béla Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer, recall the former’s appointment to their quartet (also including Zakir Hussain), very differently. While Chaurasia often speaks of his struggles to comprehend the genre of bluegrass that the duo was familiar with, they, in turn, heap praise on his ability to seamlessly integrate himself with their style. As the quartet has its eyes set on three Grammy titles—Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Best Global Music Performance and Best Instrumental Composition—mid-day connects with Chaurasia to discuss his first nomination at the prestigious gala.
We’ve heard both Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer speak of your association with the group, but we’d love to hear your version.
[They were] performing somewhere and I happened to be there. They’ve worked as a trio, and Zakir bhai took a chance and had me jam together with them. He said, ‘Let’s see if your instrument and thought process work with ours’. Theirs is a very different style of music. It is intense. To understand where Béla Fleck comes from, and [comprehend the genre of] bluegrass, took time. Edgar ji [has mastered] symphony and western classical music. Considering the way they have blended their styles, it took me time to understand [it]. We jammed from morning until evening. On another occasion, they were performing at a bluegrass festival in San Francisco, and invited me on stage as a guest. I played four songs with them for an audience of 70,000. They liked it, and decided to have me on board. We subsequently toured America and India. Then we recorded this album, As We Speak, in Nashville.
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