Sutradhaar
"Bobby is one of my most treasured friends and musical collaborators and I’m really proud to be part of this wonderful project. I was honoured to work with Bobby and his guru Aneesh Pradhan to arrange Aneesh’s exquisite compositions for this ensemble of incredible musicians. I’m thrilled this album is finally coming out!"
Artist / group
"This project is in many ways a story of Bobby’s musical journey — a journey that he embarked on, and which is ongoing, with the tabla as his medium of expression. Along this journey, he has played with some of the finest musicians in Australia, who I have had the privilege of meeting and working with due to their close rapport with Bobby. For me, Bobby is the narrator or sutradhaar who connects all the threads in this story."
Release date 19 December 2025
Personnel
Aneesh Pradhan composer
Bobby Singh tabla, arrangements
Sandy Evans saxophones, arrangements
Jeff Lang guitar
Greg Sheehan percussion
Lara Goodridge violin
Shenzo Gregorio viola
Ben Walsh drums
Zela Margossian piano
Tjupurru didgeribone
Album notes
This is a musical collaboration that spans generations, cultures and genres. Featuring the compositions of tabla maestro Aneesh Pradhan — communicated over voice note messages and interpreted by his disciple Bobby Singh and the Sydney-based jazz legend Sandy Evans, then in turn melded into coherent pieces by a slew of virtuoso musicians. Culturally it bridges Indian classical tradition with western musical tropes of jazz, blues and beyond, with the presence of Tjupurru’s didgeribone grounding some of the compositions to the very roots of the land we call Australia.
While the music revolves around the nucleus of Bobby Singh, the ARIA award winning tabla player, it also features Sydney saxophone doyen Sandy Evans; guitarist and songwriter Jeff Lang and percussionist and educator Greg Sheehan. Alongside these elder statespeople are Lara Goodridge and Shenzo Gregorio (violin and viola); The Bird’s Ben Walsh on drums; Zela Margossian on piano and didgeribone player Tjupurru. But it’s Bobby who traverses the disparate worlds of his collaborators and is able to emulsify their art into a cohesive whole. The album they have created — Sutradhaar (which literally means ‘string-holder but is colloquially a ‘narrator’ or ‘stage manager’) is a paean to a world of hope and the strength of collaboration across cultures, generations and borders.