Concept
Eastern spiritual teaching describes the divine as both sakar and nirakar. That is One who has form and is also formless. The Ragas of Indian classical music have a clear structure that binds the instrumental or vocal artist by certain rules that must be followed. The performer is free to improvise the notes in any way he or she pleases provided that the rules of the raga are left intact. Although the artist is likely to express the notes of a particular composition in largely the same way on most occasions, they will never be identical. The compositions are thus presented entirely differently each time.
In this way Nirakar can be seen as a concept as well as a unique band. It takes its influence from Indian classical raga patterns and combines them with the subtle improvisation techniques of jazz and latin music creating beautiful yet simple melodies. The tabla adds to the melodic grooves by incorporating the standard rhythm patterns with more traditional pre-composed classical pieces.
Sulekh Ruparell