Sharik Hasan’s New York Quartet to Tour India

Sharik Hasan (second from left) and his bandmates form Sharik Hasan’s New York Quartet

Jazz pianist Sharik Hasan was born in Bengaluru, but has run through every famous music school you can think of ”“ from the Bill Evans Piano Academy in Paris, where he studied in 2007, to Berklee College of Music in 2011, where he took a course in piano performance. Now based in New York, completing a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music (MSM), Hasan is planning his biggest India tour starting on June 19th in Mumbai.

Hasan draws from Western classical to blues to pop and Hindustani classical music to create modern/straight-ahead jazz. He’s jammed with the likes of drummer Adrian D’Souza and bassist Karl Peters, and set up his own trio in 2007 in Paris. He last toured India in January last year. But his biggest tour yet starts tomorrow. Says Hasan, “This is probably the most massive tour, and the first one I’ve put together from scratch, all by myself.” Although he sorted out various “logistical nightmares” in flying down three of his bandmates from the MSM for a eight-city tour, they will be supported by Mumbai’s True School of Music. “I’d only just found out about it [True School of Music]. I had already planned this tour, but then I got in touch with Ashu [Phatak, one of the founders of True School of Music] and they’re sponsoring our whole tour,” says Hasan.

Part of his jazz band is Raviv Markowitz on double bass, Philippe Lemm on drums and saxophonist Adam Larson. “It’s a little of bit of a coincidence of how we formed. When I’m looking for people to play with, I go down a list of 30-odd musicians and contact them and have a session. With Raviv and Philippe, it just clicked, and it was initially a trio but I decided to add a horn,” says Hasan, adding the band is just one gig old. “It was at a fundraiser gig to go to India,” says Hasan, who will perform his own compositions and throw in renditions of jazz standards at his upcoming tour.

Sharik Hasan’s New York Quartet India Tour 2013

 

June 19th ”“ NCPA, Mumbai

June 20th ”“ Shisha Café, Pune

June 22nd and 23rd – Windmills Craftworks, Bengaluru

June 25th ”“ Music Works, Blue Frog, Mumbai

June 28th ”“ Princeton, Kolkata

June 29th ”“ Calcutta School of Music Workshop, Kolkata

July 1st ”“ Lamkaan Workshop, Hyderabad

July 2nd ”“ Western Music Foundation and The Marriott Hotel, Hyderabad

July 3rd – US Consulate, Chennai

July 5th ”“ The BFlat Bar, Bengaluru

July 6th ”“ Heritage Jazz, Goa

July 13th – Coctails and Dreams Speakeasy, New Delhi

TBC, July – Blue Frog, New Delhi