A guitar-tabla fusion concert extends the realm of artistic possibility

Experiencing a guitar-tabla fusion concert is a bit like immersing in a living lab of East-West experimentation.

French guitarist Geoffrey Grenier, or just Geoff as he is familiar in the circuit, was in collaboration with Kolkata-based tabla maestro Tapan Kumar Chatterjee for a concert on the stage at the Alliance Francaise recently under the auspices of the Passages Indigo Association based in Strasbourg, France.

At the outset, the electric guitar seemed to be getting a proper workout as Geoff evoked a range of chord voicings peppered with sparkling bluesy riffs, aggressive growls, fuzz and distortion effects.

Geoff chose to set the tone for the concert with an instrumental presentation, which he felt, “reflects a Western musician’s perspective on the Indian classical tradition”.

Tapan, with over 45 years of experience in Hindustani classical and fusion music, performing and teaching internationally, watched the guitar’s musical escapades before rolling out the perfect percussion beats to the changing guitar textures right on cue.

For close to an hour, the two musicians engaged in a unique musical encounter that blended Western rock elements and Hindustani classical rhythms.

Geoff, who is trained in contemporary music and is known for his expressive sound, has considerable stage experience across Europe, and several fusion projects. His is a musicianship distilled from hours inside studios such as the Abbey Road Studios and Rockfield Studios, and collaborations with numerous musical projects.

Incidentally, the guitarist was in the city last year to perform at the “Indo-French Festival 2025 – A Touch of France” alongside rock musician Jewly and trip-hop-jazz exponent Lily Jung. His schedule in the city this time also included a concert at the Pavillion de France in Auroville (French Pavilion) featuring a repertoire spanning pop, rock, and French chanson classics apart from his own instrumental compositions.

In between the music performance at the Alliance Francaise, Geoff, who conversed in French with the largely Francophone audience, also sang a few rock songs including Radiohead’s “I Might Be Wrong” and The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm”.

The evening, which was lit up by moments of Geoff’s virtuosic shredding, also contained segments where the duo just jammed, playing off each other’s intuitions and pushing the envelope of artistic possibility.

Perhaps, the high point was their exposition of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love”, with its psychedelic tinge and hypnotic riff lines.

The guitarist also rendered French musician Alain Bashung’s “La nuit je mens”, an iconic song in his pop-chanson repertoire and allowed the audience a sampling of the music of French progressive rock group ObliQ.