He is someone who got hooked on to the tabla after watching Zakir Hussain perform live in London many years ago. And amazingly, he even got to play with the maestro at the concert in memory of Ustad Allah Rakha Khan five years ago.
“Hussain is by far the best percussionist ever amongst all percussion artists there have been in the West and in the East. He can do anything from the traditional to fusion to experimental. He’s simply amazing,” says Lockett.
He has been playing with many Indian percussionists since then and his latest album explores his connection to Hindustani classical and Carnatic music. Journey with the Master Percussionists of India sees a collaboration between Pete Lockett on tabla, bongos and kanjira, Bickram Ghosh on drums, U Rajesh on Mandolin and Mahesh Vinayakram with vocals.
He’s the only tabla player who plays under both Hindustani classical and Carnatic music schools. His collaborations though are not just bringing together of two instruments, its about bringing together musical knowledge of various artistes.
“It’s like how you become friends with people you can only connect with. In fact, you cannot have a conversation with someone who cuts you when you talk and doesn’t listen to you. When you collaborate, you do it because you connect. You have to compromise on yourself for a better synthesis. For example with Bickram, it’s amazing the way we understand each other’s music,” says Lockett.
Lockett who has worked on scores for Bond movies like Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and films like Hulk 2 is keen on Bollywood too. “I don’t have anything to offer in terms of songs. But yes, I would love to work on scores. Hindi films have good scope for that now. But I have a certain style and the music will be intrinsically what I stand for. So I would love to collaborate with an Indian music director for that,” he says.
