Ranjit Barot (born 1959) is an Indian film score composer, music director, music arranger, drummer and singer born and based in Mumbai, India.[1] He is a longtime associate of A. R. Rahman.[2]
He has been described by musician John McLaughlin as "One of the leading edges in drumming" and is now part of the musical group 4th Dimension.[3]
In 1980, he performed at the Jazz Yatra in Europe with the Jazz Yatra Sextet (with Louis Banks), besides performing with Pandit Ravi Shankar's ensemble on the same tour.[6] This phase saw journeys to Europe and the West with leading Indian jazz/pop and classical musicians. Between 1980 and 1982, Ranjit performed at European festivals, which also featured other jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Foster, Billy Higgins, Cecil Taylor, Louie Bellson, and others.
Barot has also had a long career in composition and music production, working out of his own studio facility in Mumbai, at which point he also started working together with Bruce Swedien, who mixed Ranjit's songs on Vande Mataram 2 and Senso Unico, an Indo-Italian feature film. Bruce has greatly influenced Ranjit's musical life and approach to a lot of his contemporary work.
His journey in this industry started in the 80s and he has been a featured drummer and arranger for industry giants such as R.D. Burman, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, Kalyanji–Anandji, continuing through the eras of Anu Malik and Ismail Darbar, and to the present, as an arranger and producer.[7]
He has often performed with Zakir Hussain, including a Masters of Percussion Tour of the US and Canada. Ranjit's ability to play the drums has led to collaborations with varied artists such as U. Srinivas, L. Subramaniam, and Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
At the Jazz Yatra '80, he performed with the Jazz Yatra Sextet and also performed with Pandit Ravi Shankar's ensemble, Jazzmine, featuring John Handy, George Adams, and Mike Richmond of the Mingus Dynasty.
On the Jazz Sextet's first European tour, Ranjit met Don Cherry, who he became friends with. This connection eventually led to a performance at the 1982 Jazz Yatra in Bombay.
His approach to drumming and the use of vocabulary has been influenced by artists like Ustad Allarakha, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Steve Gadd, Omar Hakim, Al Foster, Peter Erskin, Palghat Raghu and Karaikudi Mani (mridangam), Palnivel (tavill), Hari Shankar (khanjira), and his friend and teacher, Sridhar Parthsarthy (mridangam, hand percussion).
His collaborations with musicians abroad have included performances with artists such as John McLaughlin,[8] Jonas Helborg, Ayden Esen, and Tim Garland.
He has been inspired by the work of guitarist John McLaughlin and was featured as the drummer in his Grammy-nominated album Floating Point.
In 2011, he won all three major Indian music awards for his work in Shaitan.[10]
Ranjit released his debut album, titled Bada Boom, worldwide in November, 2010. This album is a collection of Ranjit's Jazz Fusion and World compositions with performances by Ustad Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, U. Srinivas, U. Rajesh, Scott Kinsey, Matt Garrison, Wayne Krantz, Dominique Di Piazza, Harmeet Manseta, Taufique Qureshi, Sanjay Divecha, Tim Garland, Gwilym Symcock, Ayden Esen and Elie Afif, among others. Ranjit has been the Music Composer and Sound Designer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 and represented India in his Live Performance at the "India Inclusive' showcase at WEF, Davos 2011.[11] He played for the opening of the Hockey World Cup in 2019 and was Jammin (Season 2) and MTV Unplugged's (Season 1 & 2) music producer. He leads the band AR Rahman Live.[12]
