Ranjit Barot Presents Contraband. Music that is a fusion of electronic jazz, funk and soul. Music that is the future!

Band -

Ranjit Barot - Drums + Vocals 

Mark Hartsuch - Saxophone 

Avishek Dey - Bass 

Rahul Wadhwani - Keys 

Arka Chakraborty - keys 

Emmanuel Simon - Percussion 

Harsh - Guitar 

Vasundhara Vee - Vocals

Azuman Hoyvoy - Vocals

Malika Barot - Vocals

About the Artist - https://www.ranjitbarot.com/about

“This band (The 4th Dimension) is the end result of my life’s work, with so many musicians and so many bands. It is unique, but at the same time, it integrates all the elements that made up my previous bands. The fact that Ranjit is in it is a true blessing… He is one of the greatest drummers of our era, and it’s a thrill for me and the other musicians to have him. Ranjit is the only drummer in the world who has successfully integrated the rhythms of north and south India with the drumming traditions of jazz.”

                                                                       - John McLaughlin, 2015

Ranjit Barot is today on the forefront of both worlds, the mainstream popular Indian / World music and Jazz Fusion genres. He is the Musical Director for all of Oscar winning composer, A.R.Rahman’s Live Concerts and holds the coveted ‘throne’ as Drummer for world renowned Guitar legend John Mclaughlin & The 4th Dimension band.

​

​

Born into a family steeped in Indian classical music and dance, melody and rhythm has always been an integral part of Ranjit’s life, and he started playing at the age of 12, encouraged by his mother, the legendary Kathak dancer, Sitara Devi. His early career saw performances with Louis Banks & the Jazz Yatra Sextet, the great Pandit Ravi Shankar, the maestros, (late) Don Cherry & (late) Charlie Mariano. His unique approach to drumming has seen collaborations with Maestro Zakir Hussain, including a ‘Masters of Percussion’ US Tour in 2004., Carnatic classical legends, Maestro U. Srinivas and Guru L. Subramaniam, Hindustani slide guitar master exponent, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, sarangi legend Ustad Sultan Khan Sahab, ghattam maestro Pandit ‘Vikku’ Vinayakaram, Khanjira exponent Selva Ganesh, among many other noted artists. His work / performances with the Western greats have included unique collaborations with renowned artists such as Bill Evans, Scott Kinsey, Jonas Helborg, Ayden Esen, and Tim Garland.

Ranjit has also had a long career in composition and music production, working out of his own state-of-the-art studio facility, in Mumbai, India. Combined with his strong roots in the Indian classical tradition and his world-view of music gave him a unique perspective on the Indian Film genre. His career spans projects over the last almost 4 decades as a featured drummer and arranger for Indian Film Industry erstwhile giants such as R.D. Burman, Lakshmikant - Pyaarelal right up to A.R. Rahman’s greatest work through the years, including the Grammy & Oscar nominated ‘127 Hours’ and continues to bring his unique personality to this genre of music. His recognition as a Music Composer and Arranger for Album Projects and Feature Films has earned him the Filmfare Award for his score in ‘Aks’ (2001) and more recently his work in ‘Shaitan’ swept all 3 major Indian awards, in the year 2011.

​

​

Ranjit was Music Composer and Sound Designer for the entire Opening and Closing Ceremonies of mega event, the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010, Hockey World Cup 2019 Opening, Music Producer for MTV Unplugged (Season 1 & 2), Jammin' (Season 2).