Ratul Shankar Ghosh
Grandson of Uday Shankar. India's Greatest Musical Dynasty, Living Tradition.
There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with being born into a family like Ratul Shankar Ghosh's. His grandfather was Uday Shankar, the man widely credited with introducing Indian classical dance to the West, a pioneering choreographer and performer whose influence on the global perception of Indian performing arts was profound and lasting. His grand-uncle was Pandit Ravi Shankar. One of the most celebrated musicians of the twentieth century, the sitar master who defined Indian classical music for an entire generation of Western listeners, a collaborator of the Beatles, a Grammy winner many times over. His aunt and uncle are Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones. To carry that lineage is to carry the weight of almost the entire arc of Indian music's global journey.
Ratul has met that inheritance with seriousness and dedication. He trained in tabla under Pt. Tanmoy Bose, himself one of the finest tabla players of his generation and a musician of tremendous range and intelligence. That training gave Ratul a technical foundation equal to the expectations his family name carries, and a musical sensibility shaped by one of the great pedagogue-performers working in Indian classical percussion today.
The artists he has performed with speak to a musician who operates at the highest levels of the tradition. Amjad Ali Khan, the sarod maestro who is perhaps the most beloved of all living Hindustani classical musicians. Pt. Bickram Ghosh, his own family friend and connection through their shared Kolkata roots. Pete Lockett, the British world-percussionist and collaborator whose work bridges Indian and Western rhythm traditions with rare depth. The list of his collaborators reads as a map of Indian classical music's most distinguished contemporary practitioners.
For Gappu Percussions, Ratul Shankar Ghosh's presence in the artist family carries a meaning that is almost symbolic in its weight. Gappu was founded in Kolkata: the city where Ravi Shankar was born, where Uday Shankar's legacy is still felt, where Pt. Tanmoy Bose and Pt. Bickram Ghosh have built their careers. The brand's Kolkata heritage finds, in Ratul, a direct human connection to the musical dynasties that define why that city matters in the story of Indian music. That is not something that can be manufactured. It simply exists, and Gappu is the richer for it.
At a Glance
- Grandson of Indian dance pioneer Uday Shankar
- Grandnephew of Pandit Ravi Shankar
- Nephew of Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones
- Trained in tabla under Pt. Tanmoy Bose
- Performed with Amjad Ali Khan, Pt. Bickram Ghosh, Pete Lockett, and global maestros
- Gappu Percussions endorsed artist, direct link to India's greatest musical dynasties
