Arun Ghosh

Arun Ghosh

Arun Ghosh is a British-Asian clarinettist, composer and music educator from the United Kingdom. Conceived in Calcutta, brought up in Bolton, musically developed in Manchester and based in London, he draws on a wide geographical and cultural background in his work.

Career and recognition

Ghosh is selected for the fourth Jerwood/PRS Foundation Take Five initiative for emerging jazz musicians, which is produced by Serious in 2008. In April 2009, he is invited to perform at the jazzahead! Festival in Bremen as part of the UK showcase presented by Jazz Services.

Music and style

His music works with jazz as a central language while also drawing on hip-hop, Indian classical music, folk, western classical music, rock, pop and avant-garde styles. His sound also incorporates elements associated with dub-reggae, tabla, raags and unorthodox time signatures. The result is described through lyrical melody, searching harmony, ambient texture and improvised passages.

Ensemble work and recordings

Ghosh leads an Indo-Jazz sextet that performs original music with a contemporary jazz approach. The group combines South Asian melodic ideas with urban rhythms, bass-heavy grooves and extended improvisation. His debut album, Northern Namaste, is released in 2008 and presents clarinet-led arrangements in a jazz/world music setting.

Musical influences

His playing is associated with the force of Miles Davis’s Dark Magus, the variety of Yusef Lateef, and the Indo-jazz work of John and Alice Coltrane. His arrangements also suggest connections to Brian Eno, A. R. Rahman and Abdullah Ibrahim, while his own approach is marked by a strong individual identity.