Bobby Singh

ARIA award-winning tabla percussion artist Bobby Singh has long been one of Australia’s most important and highly respected world-jazz players. Born and raised in England, he spent much of his childhood in Mumbai India, studying at Sangeet Mahabharati, a music institute founded by the great tabla maestro Pandit Nikhil Ghosh. Bobby’s prodigious talent was recognised at an early age, and he soon became a student of Ghosh’s senior disciple Aneesh Pradhan, now one of the world’s most sought-after tabla players. Under Aneesh’s nurturing guidance in the classical Hindustani tradition, Bobby rapidly matured into an internationally renowned tabla player himself, both as a traditional performer and as a cross-cultural collaborator.

Moving to Australia in the late 1980s, Bobby was mentored by Indian sarod virtuoso Ashok Roy, and as the local World music scene became established in the early 1990s, Bobby quicky became a key participant in many Australian-based projects. Enthusiastically adapting his intricate tabla rhythms to enhance the shared sounds within a variety of genres, his involvement in numerous ensembles successfully straddled the divide between traditional and contemporary music styles.

Often playing alongside cultural icons such as Grammy award-winning Indian slide guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, as well as Aussie fretboard favourites Slava Grigoryan and bluesman John Butler, Bobby also lent his rhythmic skills to albums and performances by American jazz drummer Billy Cobham, Aussie-Egyptian oud player Joseph Tawadros, multi-instrumentalist Kim Sanders, didjeridu exponent Charlie McMahon and The Cat Empire.

Early on, Bobby was a vital member of underground live-electronica group The Bird and world-blues trio Djan Djan. His long-running collaboration Circle of Rhythm – with percussion colleagues Ben Walsh and Greg Sheehan – continues to this day. As does his ongoing collaborative work in various projects with blues guitarist Jeff Lang, sarod player Adrian McNeil, and jazz saxophonist Sandy Evans, as well as his beautifully introspective duo albums with Sandy’s sax/clarinettist husband Tony Gorman. Bobby’s latest project is Khyal Trio, with vocalist Sarah Hyland and flamenco guitarist Damian Wright.

Bobby has performed at uncountable festivals, both nationally and internationally – including WOMADelaide, Woodford Folk Festival, Sydney Festival, Worlds Fair Bonn, Livid, Singapore Arts Festival, Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, Hyde Park Festival, and the Melbourne and Perth International Arts Festivals – and his ever-inventive tabla rhythms remain in constant global demand.

Having performed over the years on so many collaborative albums with other musicians, it’s now finally time for Bobby’s own debut album ‘Sutradhaar’ to shine. With the title literally meaning ‘thread-holder’ or ‘storyteller’, it’s a term for the character of a narrator within Sanskrit drama.

The album’s ten tracks were composed by Bobby’s illustrious tabla guru-teacher of three decades Pandit Aneesh Pradhan, with musical arrangements by Bobby’s long-time collaborator Sandy Evans. And joining in on this very diverse release is a who’s who of some of his closest musical friends, including Sandy on sax, pianist Zela Margossian, guitarist Jeff Lang, percussionists Greg Sheehan and Ben Walsh, violin-viola players Lara Goodridge and Shenzo Gregorio, and Indigenous didgeribone master Tjupurru.

So let your 2025 end with a bang, by discovering the explosive and always-creative tabla rhythms of Bobby Singh’s and his fabulous friends, on his new album ‘Sutradhaar’ out on Dec 16th!