Drive-East was a collaborative project between Kathak Dancer Jin Won and South Korean traditional dancer / musician Master Sue yeon Park which took place in New York, USA. Rushi composed and produced original customised music tracks for the production. These tracks included an amazing fusion between Korean Shamanic Music and ancient Snaskrit chants.
AN INTERVIEW WITH ABHIYAAN MAGAZINE ABOUT HIS MOVIE ‘SHUBHAARAMBH’
Rushi talks about his training period and how he was trained under his father who’s a well known Tabla player. Talking about his music compositions in the movie ‘Shubhaarambh’, he says, ‘we have composed songs for the movie that represents every genre. Gujaratis like listening to soothing music and Gujarati music industry has developed a lot in last couple of years. My first and foremost priority has always been serving good music to my audience and it will always be that way.’
GUJARATIS ARE MORE INTERESTED TO LEARN WESTERN INSTRUMENTS LIKE GUITAR WHILE FOREIGNERS ARE INCLINED TOWARDS LEARNING INDIAN INSTRUMENTS LIKE TABLA AND SITAR
Day by day Indians are inclining more towards learning western instruments like Guitar and Keyboard while foreigners are turning up in our country to train themselves in vocals as well as learning Indian instruments like Tabla and Sitar. A South Korean girl Jin Won has come to India to learn Tabla. She says that Indian traditional music has a good balance of pitch and rhythm. Another student has especially come to India to take Vocal training and learn Tabla. He says that he loves Indian traditional music so much that he’s going to train his two children for the same. Rushi says that every year they get students from countries like Korea, USA, and Canada who are more interested in learning Indian instruments to get a better understanding of rhythm and tone.
AT HIS ALBUM LAUNCH ‘CLICK KAR’
To bring a fresh flavor in Gujarati music, I wanted to use World Music Genre to this one. The album ‘Click Kar’ has total 7 compositions, each different from the other. I have not used a single traditional Indian instrument in any of the compositions. In fact, I have tried to present Gujarati music in Sufi, Jazz and Blues, Country music, Retro Trance, Soft Rock, and Rapper genre. It took me two years to direct this music album and a couple of International guitarists such as Russia’s Misha Josephs and New York’s Vincent Smith along with Indian musicians have contributed in some of the compositions.
RUSHI ON HIS MUSICAL JOURNEY SO FAR..
Being a son of music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil, Rushi was actively dedicated towards Indian Traditional music from his childhood. He runs his world music group called ‘Taan’ which presents Indian music in different styles. He presents Indian percussion Tabla in an experimental method and performs it at International Film Festivals and Fusion Nights while making sure that he keeps a diffraction and doesn’t lose his original touch. He believes that local Gujarati Music can also be produced in a style where it doesn’t affect the originality of language and music and still can be played at DJ parties or dance clubs.
AT HIS ALBUM LAUNCH ‘CLICK KAR’
To bring a fresh flavor in Gujarati music, I wanted to use World Music Genre to this one. The album ‘Click Kar’ has total 7 compositions, each different from the other. I have not used a single traditional Indian instrument in any of the compositions. In fact, I have tried to present Gujarati music in Sufi, Jazz and Blues, Country music, Retro Trance, Soft Rock, and Rapper genre. It took me two years to direct this music album and a couple of International guitarists such as Russia’s Misha Josephs and New York’s Vincent Smith along with Indian musicians have contributed in some of the compositions.
FEATURED IN A NEWSPAPER FOR HIS ALBUM ‘CLICK KAR’
Rushi is counted among those musicians who always brings novelty in his music. The album ‘Click Kar’ is his concept in which he has tried to compose each song in a different genre such as Jazz, Sufi, Trance, Rap, Soft Rock etc. RJ Dhvanit, Bollywood playback singer Javed Ali, Canadian based singer who is famously known as ‘Bollywood’s Soprano’ Natalie Di Luccio, and Shweta Subram have given their lovely voices for this album. Apart from his album, Rushi has performed at some of the well known international cultural festivals with his ‘Talavya’ and World music group ‘Taan’. Queens University, NYU State University, Toronto University, and Virginia University are some of the academic institutions where Rushi has delivered lectures.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH RUSHI
Born in a musically dedicated family, Rushi had developed an interest in classical Indian music from an early age. He began his training in learning Tabla under his father and a renowned music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil and then went on to learn to play other instruments as well. At a young age of 13, Rushi launched his first music album ‘Little Fingers’ which comprised instrumental Hindi songs. Rushi tries to mingle regional Gujarati music with a little western and Bollywood touch in a manner where the language and rhythm don’t lose its originality and youngsters can still like it. Rushi’s other acclaimed projects include Dadasaheb Phalke award winning best short film ‘ Bhinti Maange’, Rakesh Roshan’s famous animation movie ‘Kid Krrish’, and National Gujarati film ‘ Shubharambh’.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH RUSHI
Born in a musically dedicated family, Rushi had developed an interest in classical Indian music from an early age. He began his training in learning Tabla under his father and a renowned music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil and then went on to learn to play other instruments as well. At a young age of 13, Rushi launched his first music album ‘Little Fingers’ which comprised instrumental Hindi songs. Rushi tries to mingle regional Gujarati music with a little western and Bollywood touch in a manner where the language and rhythm don’t lose its originality and youngsters can still like it. Rushi’s other acclaimed projects include Dadasaheb Phalke award winning best short film ‘ Bhinti Maange’, Rakesh Roshan’s famous animation movie ‘Kid Krrish’, and National Gujarati film ‘ Shubharambh’.
FEATURED IN ‘AAJKAAL’ FOR HIS FIRST ALBUM LAUNCH ‘LITTLE FINGERS’
Music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil was a connoisseur of art who had recognized the talent his son had inhibited when at the age of 3, he’d seen the magic Rushi’s fingers created while he was playing with Tabla. Trained from a very young age under his father, Rushi went onto learning to play Keyboard and in no time launched his first album called ‘Little Fingers’ which comprised of Hindi instrumental songs. Rushi was in 8th grade when ‘Little Fingers’ came out. The album includes an instrumental version of ‘Khaike Paan Banaras vala’, ‘Piya tu ab to aa jaa’, ‘Main koi esa geet gaaun’ etc songs.
RHYTHM OF TABLA AT IIM-CHAOS
Chaos-2008 is going to kickstart their festival with Ahmedabad’s very own ‘Taal-Naad Tabla Group’ on the first day. One of the group member Rushi Vakil says, “ We’ll be presenting Indian Traditional Music in a style where today’s youth like it and can enjoy it. We’ll be using vocals for the very first time in our performance. It’s going to be a fusion of ‘Purya Dhanashri’ and ‘Bhairavi’ Raag. We’re confident and excited about our performance.”
INDO-PAK UNITY CONCERT
Well-known music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil’s composed band ‘Tabla Ecstasy’ and globally popular Pakistani band ‘Fusion’ had presented some wonderful music based on traditional music tunes at Chaos-2008. Everyone in the audience was enthralled by it. Pandit Divyang Vakil said that it was a great initiative as it is going to welcome an eternal creativeness that the musicians have to offer from both the countries.
GLOBAL GURUPURNIMA
To celebrate Gurupurnima, students of music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil’s students had offered their salutations by playing Tabla in a group. Loren Oppenheimer from New Jersey and Jin Won from South Korea had also visited Guruji for this celebration of Gurupurnima and bowed to him.
FEATURED IN MUMBAI SAMACHAAR FOR HIS FIRST ALBUM LAUNCH ‘LITTLE FINGERS’
Rushi started the training for learning Tabla at the age of 3. He even taught himself how to play Keyboard as he wanted to get the understanding of rhythm along with the tune. Rushi studied at Navrang High school in Ahmedabad. Even though he used to practice Tabla and Keyboard for 5-7 hours daily, Rushi was never behind in studies. He consecutively scored very well in his exams. Apart from his studies and music, Rushi has always been interested in the game of Cricket. His house in Ahmedabad has hosted many renowned musicians such as Ustaad Allahrakha Saheb, Ustaad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Sapan Chaudhary etc.
PERFORMANCE AT SPORTS CLUB (FEATURED IN CITY BHASKAR)
Team ‘Talaya’ and World Fusion Group ‘Taan’ had performed at Sports Club in the city on a Sunday evening. The audience enjoyed themselves thoroughly as ‘Talavya’ performed melodious tunes while ‘Taan’ showcased the comparison and differences between Indian Music and World Music in an innovative manner.
GUJARAT SAMACHAR’S EXCLUSIVE ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE ‘CHITRALOK’
Rushi firmly believes there should be a proper blend of traditional and fusion or experiment when it comes to the field of music. ‘A sensation that’s created by an instrument becomes more lively and enjoyable when it’s blended well with a musician’s hard work and efforts rather than with a keyboard’s key. It reaches to a listener’s heart directly. A producer and a musician should definitely keep experimenting with new styles of music but we must remember where we come from. We should not forget our traditions and roots. We shouldn’t go so far in the name of an experiment where we end up producing a music that instead of being ‘fusion’, ends up being ‘confusing’.