Biography

Suman Sarkar, comes from a family where music has been an integral part of his family tradition. His father Lata Sri Santosh Kumar Sarkar, himself was a vocalist as well as a music teacher, composer and performer. He first introduced Suman to the discipline of the Tabla. Later Suman went through intensive training under the tutelage of Sri Surhit Chakraborty a direct disciple of Ustad Habibuddin Khan of Ajrara Gharana and Ustad Gami Khan of Delhi Gharana.

Suman proved already a promising tabla player, when he first performed, at a function in Calcutta in early 80s. After that, rigorous riaz and proper guidance from his Guru has helped him to build his professional carrer as a tabla player.

For over a decade, Suman has been performing regularly At Calcutta and other cities of India. He has accompanied many noted instrumentalists and vocalists like Nishat Khan, Irfan Khan, Prof, Subroto Roy Chowdhury, Partha Bose, Lakshmi Shankar and many others. In 1992 Suman went to Germany for the first time, where he performed at Darmstdt Indo-German cultural Society and gave many solo recitals.

Since then he has successfully toured Europe at regular intervals and performed at major cities in Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland. He was invited several times by the Austrian Cultural Ministry to give lecture demonstration at primary and Secondary schools in Innsbruck, Austria. Besides, he is also one of the visiting Tabla teachers at Clic Music (Sangit School of Indian Music) in Brussels.

In 1995, the first Fusion album “Himmel und Erde” was released in Germany where Suman played with a German Organ Player , which earned him much more popularity in Germany in the field of Fusion music. His latest Disk album “Heaven on Earth” where he has worked with two famous Jazz musicians has also given him success in the field of Experimental music.

Suman Sarkar & Partha Bose, Bruxelles, octobre 2001