Ahead of their Indo-jazz fusion concert under the NCPA’s Converging Streams series, we speak to percussionist Shravan Samsi, violinist Yadnesh Raikar and pianist  Arka Chakraborty about their sound, which promises to be both revolutionary and rooted.

By Ornella D’Souza

Reading the artiste line-up for the upcoming Indo-jazz concert, Ananta—The Infinite at the NCPA, is like a fleeting journey through three vastly different sound worlds. While percussionist/drummer Shravan Samsi and violinist Yadnesh Raikar have their rhythmic and melodic anchors in Indian classical music, pianist Arka Chakraborty is steeped in the many hues of jazz.

But when the trio presents Ananta, these sound worlds will not only find a way to speak to one another but by the end of the night, the raga will swing, and jazz will have met jugalbandi halfway.

Ananta, the Sanskrit term for ‘endless’ or ‘infinite’, falls under the NCPA’s longstanding series titled Converging Streams that celebrates fusion sounds. “It embodies the limitless power of music to inspire, transcend and establish a connection with audience members coming from different walks of life. There will be a little bit for everyone to relate with,” says Samsi.

Cross-cultural improvisation

‘Indo-jazz’ emerged in the mid-20th century as one of the earliest hybrids in jazz history, bridging Hindustani and Carnatic music with the improvisational spirit of Western jazz. The genre often brings together traditional Indian instruments like the sitar, tabla, bansuri or sarangi, with jazz instruments like the piano, saxophone, drums or double bass. One of the earliest experiments  took place in Britain, when Jamaican saxophonist Joe Harriott and Kolkata-born violinist John Mayer recorded the album Indo-Jazz Suite in 1966. In the 1970s, Mahavishnu Orchestra was formed by guitarist John McLaughlin, who later also formed the revolutionary, still-goingstrong band, Shakti, which initially comprised Indian classical maestros L. Shankar, Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram, creating a successful example of cross-cultural improvisation.

Mumbai itself has a vibrant jazz history—from the 1930s to the present. As a result, the city has been a fertile ground for cross-genre music-making celebrated in such series as the NCPA’s Converging Streams.

Blending three worlds All three musicians presenting Ananta draw from diverse musical gharanas and disciplines. Shravan Samsi belongs to the Punjab gharana and began tabla studies under his father and eminent musician, Yogesh Samsi, a disciple of Ustad Allarakha. Encouraged by the ustad’s son, Zakir Hussain, Samsi proceeded to study drums from composer Ranjit Barot, who integrates konnakol (Carnatic vocal percussive syllables) and South Asian rhythmic systems into modern jazz drumming. He also expanded his rhythmic vocabulary under virtuoso percussionist Trilok Gurtu. Being invited by Hussain in 2023 and Gurtu in 2024 to perform alongside them on prestigious platforms were “big points of validation” for him. Other notable work includes longtime collaborations with playback singer Hariharan, sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee, percussionist Shikhar Naad Qureshi (with whom he played tabla solo on a drum set) and the fusion collective Pulse Conversation by established drummers Gino Banks, Jai Row Kavi and Vinayak Pol.

Yadnesh Raikar, son and disciple of noted Hindustani classical violinist Milind Raikar, pursued advanced training in violin under Dr. L. Subramaniam and vocal training with Kishori Amonkar, Arun Kashalkar, Anand Pednekar and Vasantrao Kadnekar. His career highs include collaborating with Asha Bhosle for the soundtrack of Black Home (2015), winning the Bharat Ratna Dr. M. S. Subbulakshmi Fellowship in 2018, and earning a spot on the Rolling Stone India’s Future of Music 2024 list. Save for a few jazz collaborations in India, like with Duplessy & The Violins of the World during their 2024 Mumbai tour, most of Raikar’s jazz explorations have been in America and Dubai.

On the other hand, Arka Chakraborty is completely self-taught, but grew up with musically inclined parents, given his father’s massive collection of LPs and mother’s ‘good ear’. The Kolkata-born Mumbai-based pianist is heavily steeped in different jazz styles and has accompanied jazz musicians like Carlton Kitto, Jonathan Kay and Jody McBrayer. He counts playing before the great American jazz composer and pianist Herbie Hancock, at the NCPA last year, as a career highlight. A regular fixture in Barot’s live shows, Chakraborty is part of a jazz quartet called ACT, does regular gigs at the Skinny Mo’s Jazz Club in Kolkata and vibes with musicians for performances, like the avant-garde jazz set with drummer Anirudh Saha. He also approaches the genre with a theoretical mind, given his day job as an assistant professor at the School of Performing Arts, NMIMS, Mumbai, where jazz forms a large part of the piano curriculum.

Ananta emerged organically from Samsi’s collaborations with Raikar and Chakraborty. Having previously performed with Chakraborty in varied settings—which includes being part of the Rajeev Raja Combine at the 2024 edition of Converging Streams— Samsi knew of the pianist’s association with his own mentor, Barot. Raikar had done a US tour earlier this year, which included a masterclass at the Berklee College of Music and global collaborations with Balkan musicians. Samsi appreciated him for playing ‘amazing Indian music, but also good jazz’, and suggested that they work together. That led to informal meet-ups which involved writing music together, sharing ideas, jamming and practising, before the idea of forming a trio crystallised. “We first thought of having a bass player on board, but Yadnesh’s compositions and melodies felt more attuned to the keyboard. So, I thought of Arka, and bringing these two worlds together along with mine,” says Samsi.

Influences & instruments

In Ananta, the three musicians will pay tribute to their gurus, while fusing varied jazz influences with their individual styles. Chakraborty will introduce drone pads (which provide an underlying sound to create an immersive soundscape) to his piano and keyboard, while Samsi will adapt his drum set-up to achieve a specific sonic palette. His set-up will feature the unique hand-hammered Istanbul cymbals—a gift, he says, “from Trilok sir”—percussive woodblocks, tom-toms, electronic triggers, percussive triangle, alongside conventional bass and snare drums.

The trio will play seven to eight songs, largely original compositions by Raikar, created specifically for Ananta. “I’ll bring in the compositions, Arka the harmonic palette and Shravan will keep it all tight,” says Raikar, who will play the electric and acoustic violin. On his part, Samsi will fill up the frequency spectrum “considering we are just a trio”, by triggering a few electronics to generate a significant amount of bass. “We will play fixed compositions, fixed melodies, fixed time signatures, fixed harmonic progressions and within that framework, we will incorporate a lot of improvisation.”

Chakraborty will play left-hand bass on the piano and keyboard and infuse the compositions with his own affinities for certain jazz idioms like bebop and “head” arrangements. “Expect Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, Chick Correa, Tigran Hamasyan, and the meeting of konnakol and tabla vocal percussions. Also, a bit of Weather Report as it reflects my soundscapes at this point.” With Ananta, he wishes to achieve similar cohesion as the American jazz fusion band active in the 1970s. “The members of Weather Report, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine and Jaco Pastorius were great musicians who played different instruments. But when they came together, what they produced sort of galvanised into an original sound scale, which carried Arka Chakraborty will play lefthand bass on the piano and keyboard and while Shravan Samsi will adapt his drum set-up to achieve a specific sonic palette. “Expect Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, Chick Correa, Tigran Hamasyan, and the meeting of konnakol and tabla vocal percussions. Also, a bit of Weather Report as it reflects my soundscapes at this point,” Chakraborty says. their individual inspirations and influences. They could converse with each other, because otherwise it would have been just another cover band.”

For Raikar, the transition from pure Hindustani classical to fusion was not easy. For 18 years, he was a strict purist, in adherence to his father’s belief that one must achieve mastery over classical music before setting out on individual explorations. “Classical music puts you in a box, you must stick to the same raga, one set of notes. Jazz, by contrast, demands limitless openness. Initially, it took me some time to make that transition to fusion. I even failed. Yet, I wanted to create [music] without boundaries, which is the whole point of us coming together with Ananta, irrespective of our individual influences and idols who have dissolved the borders between tradition and fusion.”

Ultimately, Ananta—The Infinite is conceived as an invitation to audiences as much as a platform for musical exploration. As Chakraborty reflects, the trio’s aim is not merely to showcase virtuosity, but a shared path: “We want to embark on a journey and take the audience along with us.”

This article was originally published in the October 2025 issue of ON Stage.