Sarathy Korwar is a US-born, India-raised, London-based drummer, percussionist, composer and bandleader. He works mainly in jazz and Indo jazz, and also brings in hip-hop and other mixed forms.

Early life and training

Korwar is born in the United States and grows up in Ahmedabad and Chennai in India. He starts playing tabla at the age of 10, while also listening closely to American music heard on the radio and in a local jazz record shop, where Ahmad Jamal and John Coltrane are early discoveries.

At 17, he moves to Pune to study Environmental Science, but he spends much of this period focusing on music instead. He studies tabla with Rajeev Devasthali, adapts those skills to western drum kit, and works as a session musician.

After completing his studies, he moves to London to pursue music more fully. There he trains as a classical tabla player with Sanju Sahai and earns an MMus in Performance from SOAS, with research centred on adapting Indian classical rhythmic material for non-Indian percussion instruments.

London work and collaborations

In London’s jazz scene, Korwar works with Shabaka Hutchings, Cara Stacey and clarinettist Arun Ghosh. Hutchings is known for work with Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming, while Stacey is associated with Kit Records.

Solo projects and recording

Korwar begins developing work under his own name, including the concept for Day To Day and plans to travel to India to record the Sidis. In late 2014 he learns about the Steve Reid Foundation, applies with a three-minute video outlining his project, and is accepted onto the foundation’s mentoring scheme. His mentors include Four Tet, Floating Points, Gilles Peterson, Koreless and Nick Woodmansey of Emanative.

More Arriving

His second studio album, More Arriving, is released through The Leaf Label. It is recorded over three years in Mumbai and London and brings together rappers from Mumbai and New Delhi, spoken word, Indian classical influence, and jazz instrumentation. Contributors include the Jamaican-Indian rapper Delhi Sultanate, the London poet Zia Ahmed and the Abu Dhabi writer Deepak Unnikrishnan.