Sarathy Korwar

Sarathy Korwar is a US-born, Indian-raised, London-based drummer, percussionist, composer and bandleader. He is mainly a jazz and Indo-jazz artist and incorporates elements of hip-hop into his work. Sarathy grew up in Chennai and Ahmedabad in India and began studying the tabla aged 10.  

Sarathy studied geology first of all, but then decided to dedicate himself to being a full-time musician. He continued studying tabla under Rajeev Devasthali and also started learning the drum kit. He later moved to London and studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where he continued learning the tabla under Sanju Sahai. It was here that he focused on adapting Indian classical material for non-Indian percussion instruments.   

Since then, Sarathy has established himself as one of the most original voices in the UK jazz scene. He led UPAJ, a collective of South Asian jazz and Indian classical musicians brought together through a love of collaboration and improvisation. His collaborations have included Shabaka Hutchings and Arun Ghosh.  He has also toured with Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal and Moses Boyd.