Sameer Gupta

Brooklyn Raga Massive

NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS – Sameer Gupta is a “kinetic, bass-heavy, and tender” percussionist (The Jazz Observer), with roots in the Indian Classical tradition. He’s at MASS MoCA on Saturday, September 30, at 8pm, with a propulsive band featuring Marc Cary (keyboards), Jay Gandhi (bansuri), and Rashaan Carter (bass), for a magical evening of tracks from his new album, A Circle Has No Beginning. Bang on a Can favorite and North Adams resident Todd Reynolds opens the show.

Known as one of the few percussionists simultaneously representing the traditions of American jazz on drum-set and Indian classical music on tabla, musician and composer Gupta did not begin mastering the tabla until well into his jazz career in the early ‘00s. First studying under the guidance of Ustad Zakir Hussain, over the last two decades Gupta has become an accomplished, innovative tabla player and a dedicated disciple of the great tabla maestro Pandit Anindo Chatterjee.

Gupta is a co-founder and artistic director of the non-profit collective Brooklyn Raga Massive, a group rooted in and inspired by Indian classical music and hailed by The New Yorker as the “leaders of the raga renaissance.” As an established voice in the jazz, world, and fusion music scenes, Gupta is recognized for melding traditional and modern improvisational styles, creating a distinct sound all his own. From bebop to avant-garde jazz, and European classical percussion to North Indian classical tabla, Gupta composes and performs music from a true multicultural perspective that bridges several continents. His first solo album, Namaskar, debuted in 2010. The follow-up, A Circle Has No Beginning, is to be released later this year. “Brave, bold and globally conscious music,” says pioneering musician Karsh Kale about Gupta’s imminent release, “created by an artist that has both feet planted in many traditions and both hands reaching out for infinite possibilities.”

Sameer Gupta has performed at Lincoln Center; Birla Auditorium, Kolkata, India; SFJAZZ; Nehru Centre, London; MoMA, NYC; and Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, and has played with Falu Shah, Rez Abbasi, Marc Cary, Wallace Roney, Karsh Kale, Pandit Krishna Bhatt, Ravichandra Kulur, Mysore Manjunath, Prasant Radhakrishnan, Pandit Chitresh Das, Jason Samuels Smith, Pandit Ramesh Mishra, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, and numerous other luminaries.

Violinist Todd Reynolds is known as one of the foremost proponents of the expansion of the violin past its wood-bound tradition and into digital practice and invention. He has worked with Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, and Bang on a Can, and is a founder of the string quartet known as Ethel. His compositional and performance style is a hybrid of old and new technology, multidisciplinary aesthetic, and pan-genre composition and improvisation. His double-disc debut album Outerborough was released in 2011 on the Innova label, where it rose to the top of Amazon’s classical charts that year.

On Friday, September 30, at 8pm, New York City jazz giant Marc Cary joins Gupta at MASS MoCA for a night when tradition meets evolution, on a musical journey across decades. Lickety Split, MASS MoCA’s in-house café, serves up fresh salads, homemade soup, and lip-smacking pub fare. The MASS MoCA bar is always well-stocked with local beer from Bright Ideas Brewing and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. Concert tickets are $10 for students, $12 in advance, $18 day of, and $24 preferred. Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am to 5pm every day, except Tuesdays. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 x1 during box office hours or purchased online at massmoca.org. All events are held rain or shine.

Sponsorship
This performance is sponsored by the Hans and Kate Morris Fund for New Music.

Images
High-resolution images of MASS MoCA’s fall 2017 events are available through this link.

About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest (and largest) centers for making, displaying, and enjoying today’s most important art, music, dance, theater, film, and video. MASS MoCA nearly doubled its gallery space in spring 2017, with artist partnerships that include Laurie Anderson, the Louise Bourgeois Trust, Jenny Holzer, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and James Turrell. Gallery admission is $20 for adults, $18 for veterans and seniors, $12 for students, $8 for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. Members are admitted free year-round. The Hall Art Foundation’s Anselm Kiefer exhibition is seasonal and currently on view. For additional information, call 413.662.2111 x1 or visit our website.

Hours
11am to 5pm, closed Tuesdays

Download the Sameer Gupta press release.