There is no shortcut to a transcendent experience. Drummer, composer, and producer Sarathy Korwar, now a fixture on the British jazz scene and also known as the drummer for Shabaka Hutchings and Anoushka Shankar, knows this better than anyone. His latest album, There is beauty, there already, released in November, is a hypnotic 40-minute suite for percussion, without breaks. Each track flows organically from the next. At the end: pure catharsis. Korwar shares the stage with three other percussionists in this fascinating trip of colors, layered rhythms, beats, and drones.

For Sarathy Korwar, genres are clearly irrelevant. You could say that he has been equally influenced by jazz, Indian folk, electro, and the minimalist music of composers such as Terry Riley and Steve Reich. Korwar’s previous album, KALAK, topped many year-end lists, and with There is beauty, there already, he is once again making a big impression. Korwar’s resounding plea for the melodic and emotional power of percussion is simply irresistible.

From April 16 – 19, the ninth edition of Minimal Music Festival will take place in Muziekgebouw and BIMHUIS. The festival explores music as a physical, transcendental experience. What inspired pioneers like La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Steve Reich resonates in the wealth of sounds and styles of adventurous makers.

Sarathy Korwar drums/tabla/electronics, Magnus Mehta balophone/marimba/percussion, Donna Thomson drums/electronics, Prathap Ramchandran mridangam/ghatam/kanjira