UK premiere of the IndoJazz clarinettist's new trio, with tabla and double bass.
British Asian clarinettist Arun Ghosh is delighted to return to Bristol, presenting and premiering his new band Aaj Kal Trio, featuring Shivraj Singh on double bass, and the visionary UK tabla player and percussionist Dalbir Singh Rattan.
Over a career spanning three decades, the award winning IndoJazz sensation has wowed and charmed UK and international audiences with his charismatic and passionate performance style, lyrical musical expression, and a distinctly progressive compositional voice.
“An upfront mix of South Asian melodies and western street-grooves” (Guardian)
The sound and ethos of Aaj Kal Trio marks a musical return to Ghosh’s South Asian cultural roots. Exploring the raags and taals of his acclaimed albums Northern Namaste and A South Asian Suite, the tabla is once again brought to the fore. This instrument’s all encompassing groove becomes the foundation for Ghosh’s searching and searing clarinet improvisations; a unique style that draws inspiration from both Ustad Bismillah Khan and John Coltrane.
A classic trio format of wind, bass, and rhythm – in line with the great trio ensembles led by jazz luminaries, Charles Lloyd, Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins – the group’s British Asian identity is also celebrated on stage, with a musical palette inspired by drum ’n’ bass, UK downtempo, and a Stone Roses era swagger.
Arun Ghosh
Arun Ghosh is a clarinettist and composer from Lancashire, now living in London. His music is inspired by jazz, Bengali music and the sounds of the Subcontinent, folk, European classical music, dance music, and the songs and rhythms of an upbringing in the North of England.
Over a 30 year performance and composition career, he has released five albums on camoci records – Northern Namaste, Primal Odyssey, A South Asian Suite, and composed scores for theatre and film, classical works, and song cycles.
An acclaimed musician on UK and intercontinental jazz scenes, he has twice been awarded UK Jazz Musician of the Year (2014, 2018) at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, and has performed at venues and jazz festivals across the world as a bandleader.
Arun has been a core member of sitarist Anoushka Shankar’s Quartet since 2022, as part of a world tour that has taken the group all over Europe, Australia, North and South America, India, and across Asia.
Dalbir Singh Rattan
Dalbir Singh, known as The ‘TablaJedi’, is world renowned as one of the most respected Tabla players in the UK, following rigorous training in Indian Classical Music under the watchful eyes of his guru, Ustad Sukhvinder Singh Pinky.
He has toured globally with artists such as Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Ian Brown, Richard Ashcroft, Marillion & Ocean Colour Scene to name a few ,and features in an innovative Asian Blues band with The Stone Roses guitarist, Aziz Ibrahim.
Dal is also an integral member of the group “Bollywood Strings” who perform internationally and has recently released a new EP. Dal was commissioned by The British Museum in London to create the soundscape for ‘Ancient India’ Living Traditions exhibition in 2025.
In his home city of Birmingham, he has collaborated with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, B:Music, BIMM, The CBSO, MAC Birmingham and Sandwell Music & Arts.
Shivraj Singh
Shivraj Singh is an established double and electric bass player from Smethwick in Birmingham, UK. He was born into an Indian family where he is a first generation British Indian. After early musical experiences through the Jazzlines (B:Music) youth outreach programme, Shivraj later went on to study at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (2015-2019) where he was taught by Mark Hodgson, graduating with a 2.1 degree.
Over the course of his career so far, he has performed with Soweto Kinch, Xhosa Cole, Clark Tracey, Percy Pursglove, Sara Coleman, Denys Baptiste, Nikki Yeoh, Liam Noble, Jean Toussaint, Phil Robson, and the Black Voices.
He has played at many notable venues around the UK and abroad, including Jazz Cafe, Pizza Express and The Vortex Jazz Club in London. Some of the world-renowned festivals he has played at are Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Love Supreme festival and JAZZFEST in Trondheim, Norway.
Shivraj is a notable sideman in bands in Birmingham; including BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year, Xhosa Cole’s band – the Xhosa Cole Quartet. Shivraj and Xhosa have had a long-standing relationship, having grown up playing together in the Jazzlines Ensemble. Shivraj helped produce Xhosa’s last album Ibeji, which was received with critical acclaim and part funded by the Peter Whittingham Award.