Due to the current Corona situation and the declaration from the government to shut down all cultural institutions the next two weeks, we have decided to cancel all shows from today until March 31st. For now, we are working on new dates for as many concerts as possible. For this reason the show on March 14th is also cancelled. Ticket holders will get their money back via Billetto. More info on the Corona situation and ALICE here.

You’ve probably never seen or heard instruments like these. The hindustani slide guitar is the creation of Debashish Bhattacharya whose creation pairs his first love – a Hawaiian lap steel guitar, a gift from his father when he was only 3 – and the sounds ff india. In fact, he’s made three of them: a 24-string, hollow-neck chaturangui, the 14-String gandharvi and the anandi, a four-string slide ukulele. Grammy awarded Debashish Bhattacharya has been officially recognised as a pandit (master musician) since the age of 40 (he’s now 53) and acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest slide guitarists. Bhattacharya’s music incorporates a good deal of north indian (hindustani) classical music, but you can also hear the blues pouring out from his stunning instruments. Bhattacharya’s guitars are infinitely subtle vehicles employing microtonal scales and intricate patterns alternating brief, lightly touched notes and long, sustained slides.

Just like his instruments build bridges between Eastern and Western influences, so Bhattacharya is known to create remarkable fusions in his music, often collaborating with musicians from the jazz- and blues-world. In his recent project, JOY!Guru, he has teamed up with two excellent Polish musicians – Wojtek Traczyk (double bass) & Hubert Zemler (drums) to explore a mutual fascination with the spiritual jazz of the 70s. An era in which masters from India and great jazz musicians from the West met for the first time. Their album, released in 2018 by Unzipped Fly Records, won second prize in the competition for the folk phonogram of the year of the Polish Radio; has been nominated to German Record Critics’ Award, and got the Top of the World mark from british Songlines Magazine.

In 2017 Debashish Bhattacharya did a mesmerizing show at Roskilde Festival. It’s a great pleasure to present him at ALICE with his new exciting project, a trio which will undoubtedly lead the audience into a state of trance.

Please note that the concert is seated with a limited amount of tickets.