Saagara is a confluence of two different musical worlds, uniting five dynamic virtuosos on a single stage. The project has a stellar cast featuring Waclaw Zimpel, Giridhar Udupa, Bhargava Halambi, K Raja, and Mysore N Karthik. It is the meeting of two of the world's oldest systems of music - Indian and European.
Saagara which literally translates to 'Ocean", essentially means boundless, or infinite. Symbolising the vast expanse of music and all the systems that add upto it, Saagara is in its deepest sense, a union of two musical forms just like how two different streams of rivers unite to become a part of the bigger ocean. Initiated by Zimpel and Udupa during a casual jam in Poland, Saagara took shape after Zimpel's debut visit to India and collaboration with Udupa. Later, the rest of the members Halambi, Raja, and the latest - Karthik joined the wagon.
Saagara draws its western influences through Zimpel's rendition of different musical traditions like Jazz, Folk, and Contemporary classical music. The Indian influences come through Udupa and Karthik, who are bringing together authentic grooves and sounds from one of India's oldest forms of music - Carnatic Music. Udupa's rhythms are an amalgamation of Carnatic music's most prominent accompanying instruments- ghatam (Udupa), khanjira (Halambi), morsing, thavil (Raja), and konnakols. Their grooves breeze through a gamut of classical and folk rhythms, with intricate yet complex structures which perfectly compliment Zimpel's and Karthik's duet.
Saagara debuted in 2015 with their first eponymous album under Polish music label 'MultiKulti' which swept audiences across Poland and had the International Press raving about them. To their credit, they have been nominated under the "Folk Album of the Year 2015" category at Polish Radio, Poland. Saagara has also performed at the Witold Lutoslawski Concert Studio of Polish Radio, Warsaw; Wroclaw Philharmonic Hall, National Forum of Music, CK Zamek- Poznan, NCPA Mumbai, and Lviv Philharmonic Hall- Ukraine. They have also performed at the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw featuring Trilok Gurtu, Krakow Jazz Autumn Festival, and Jazz Bez Festival, Ukraine. With the second album they are also bringing experimental electronic music to the table.
Wacław Zimpel (Clarinet) is the most imaginative clarinet player in Poland. He is recognised both in his homeland and internationally. Since the very beginnings of his musical career, his recordings and performances were a subject of many positive reviews in the press and he has been a recipient of numerous awards. His numerous varied projects has often appealed to the musical traditions of India, Japan, or Morocco, proving that he excels the most when facing a genuine challenge. He has worked with Trilok Gurtu, Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Joe McPhee, Evan Ziporyn, Michael Zerang, Bobby Few, Perry Robinson, Klaus Kugel, Michiyo Yagi, Tamaya Honda, Mars Williams, Gyan Riley, Hubert Zemler, Krzysztof Dys, Steve Swell, Tim Daisy, Mark Tokar, Dave Rempis, Per Ake Holmlander, Christian Ramond, Maallem Mokhtar Gania, Giridhar Udupa, Mikołaj Trzaska, Marcin Masecki, Raphael Rogiński.
Ghatam Giridhar Udupa (Ghatam), often known as the 'King of Pot Music' (Ghatam) is one of the leading musicians in the world of rhythms. He has had his initial tutelage under his father and well-known mrudangam artist Vidwan Ullur Nagendra Udupa later under Vidhushi Sukanya Ragopal & Vidwan V Suresh. He has accompanied eminent South Indian classical musicians including Sarvashree M.Balamuralikrishna, Palghat Raghu, Umayalpuram K.Sivaraman, Karaikudi R Mani, M.S.Gopalkrishnan, L.Subramaniam, Mysore Brothers, Mandolin Srinivas and many others. Besides playing for authentic Carnatic Classical concerts, he has also played for many Hindustani Classical, Fusion, Jazz, Flamenco, and Symphonic Orchestral concerts and has been a part of numerous International Music Festivals with renowned Indian Musicians like Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Ranjit Barot, Trilok Gurtu, Shankar Mahadevan, Pandit Jasraj, Sivamani, Louis Banks, and Western Musicians like Larry Coryell, Hubert Laws, Ernie Watts, Airto Moreira, and Lewis Pragasam to name a few. He is the Founder-Director of 'The Udupa Foundation', a registered charitable trust founded in 2015, with the aim of promoting music, performing arts and culture. He is the Brand Ambassador for Harman AKG Microphones.
Bharghava Halambi (Khanjira) is one of the leading percussionists from India, who specialises in the art of playing khanjira (South Indian frame drum). He started learning mrudangam from Ullur Nagendra Udupa at the age of 9 and later continued his learning under the guidance of K. U. Jayachandra Rao. He then pursued learning the Khanjira from C.P.Vyasa Vittala who is a senior disciple of the legendary G.Harishankar. He has performed and conducted workshops in many prestigious venues all over India and toured USA, Poland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and France with various artists.
K Raja (Thavil) is a young master of thavil, a traditional South Indian percussion instrument played with a stick and special thimbles on auspicious occasions and at Hindu temples. He is the 4th generation of his musical family and started learning Tavil at the age of eight from his father K V Kodandaram. He is one of the few masters of the instrument who are fluent in many musical styles, from jazz to fusion.
Mysore N. Karthik (Violin) is a young renowned violinist who is the son-disciple of violin maestro Mysore.M.Nagaraj and the grandson of renowned violinist Prof.S.Mahadevappa. Today, he is one of the most recognisable violinist of his generation in Carnatic music. He has performed all over India and has travelled abroad too. Karthik is a true cultural ambassador of India and continues to preserve and spread the rich cultural heritage of Indian classical music, in all its glory.