MIR UAE: Sarathy Korwar

The immersive programme Dubai and Abu Dhabi allowed Sarathy Korwar to work in collaboration with local partners to create new music and reach a new international audience. Working with organisations including The Fridge, an independent promoter and agency who run live and studio space; and New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Center, which both provide local market intelligence and an essential gateway into the Dubai and Abu Dhabi scenes.

Born in the US, Sarathy Korwar grew up in Ahmedabad and Chennai in India. He began playing tabla aged 10 but was also drawn to the American music that he heard on the radio and that leaked through the doorway of his local jazz music shop, Ahmad Jamal were John Coltrane early discoveries. At 17 Sarathy studied tabla under the tutelage of Rajeev Devasthali, translating his skills to the Western drumkit and playing as a session musician. Finishing his studies, Sarathy began to think about pursuing a career in music and moved to London, where he trained as a classical tabla player under the guidance of Sanju Sahai and graduated with a MMus in Performance from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) focusing on the adaptation of Indian classical rhythmic material to non-Indian percussion instruments.

Working the angles in London’s jazz scene, Sarathy connected with Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming), Cara Stacey (Kit Records) and played with clarinettist Arun Ghosh.

In late 2014 Sarathy was awarded the Steve Reid Innovation Award to make his debut album and was mentored by the Steve Reid Foundation’s patrons: Four Tet, Floating Points, Gilles Peterson, Koreless and Nick Woodmansey (Emanative).’ His debut album ‘Day To Day’ fuses traditional folk music of the Sidi community in India (combining East African, Sufi and Indian influences) with jazz and electronics.

Sarathy Korwar said:

“I feel incredibly honoured and grateful for this opportunity to spend time collaborating with musicians/artists in the UAE. I’m looking forward to creating new music that embraces a complex and composite identity and challenges pre-existing ideas of traditional and contemporary music”.