Sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee is all set to reinvent Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana’s music to the sound of the sitar this evening in a virtual concert.

Purbayan Chatterjee has done rigorous rehearsals to come to the level of of the Grammy legend whose music draws multi-cultural influences. “Santana is one of the most legendary guitar players, but also as a string player and plucked instrument player. Santana I think was a natural choice in the recreation of an international artist. As a sitar player, I thought that I could try some of his hook lines and his licks on the sitar”.

Chatterjee has always been a fan of Santana, but meeting the legend in 2012 when the latter performed at Bangalore. “I missed his India tours because at the time when it happened in 2012 I was outside the country”.

Chatterjee has not really been deeply into the life of Santana and has probably just glanced through the tapestry of his life. “I have always heard his music, but when I heard that I have to do this recreation for Paytm Insider’s Jim Beam Originals, that’s when I got more and more into his music. One thing I have to say about his music is how beautifully he brought it to people. He kept it simple and he kept it in a manner that it would appeal to larger number of people. That is what touched my heart, and that is the part of him that I am connecting with the most.”

So how would he link the sitar to the rock strings of the guitar? “Naturally, we will use all Santana motives, but we’ll use a sprinkling of Indian motives and Indian themes and some Indian melodies which connects well with the central theme of the songs”.

Chataterjee will be joined by his wife Gayatri on vocal, Sangeet Haldipur on vocals who is also a brilliant keyboard player, guitarist Rickraj and Shikhar Naad Qureshi on the drums and percussions.

Chatterjee cites Black Magic Woman, Game Of Love, Into the Night, Smooth, Maria Maria as his favorites.

During Lockdown, Chatterjee was busy producing new music, working on his YouTube channel and working on some very important releases, including a song release with Ustad Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan.

Event: Purbayan Chatterjee's original take on Santana for Paytm Insider’s Jim Beam Originals

Date and Time: 21st November, 9 pm

Tickets on: Insider.in