SKF NOTE: Musician Ravish Momin was good enough to consent to an interview two weeks ago. I will posting excerpts in the days ahead.

Ravish is a drummer who first caught my attention in June 2017 in an online news story. He called his music “folk music from nowhere” and “music that exists from a country that doesn’t exist.”

What’s not to like about that?

In 2017 Ravish was pictured using an acoustic drumset augmented by various electronic devices. Just before our interview, Ravish posted the YouTube video shown here where his current setup has no acoustic drum elements.

I was watching Momin’s YouTube videos — especially his in concert videos — anticipating an experience similar to concerts I’ve attended of acoustic drumset players, from Art Blakey, to Jaimoe, to John Densmore.

That’s the wrong approach. It’s apples and oranges.

Momin’s music is rooted in acoustic drumming. He studied rudiments and acoustic drumet playing with Andrew Cyrille — an acoustic drumset player known for solid straight-ahead drumming, and for pushing the boundaries of drumset playing.

Yet, watching Ravish Momin create his music, I find it best to erase my preconceived ideas of watching acoustic drumset players. And I even find it easier to listen only, to close my eyes and not watch what Momin does onstage.

I think Ravish and I had a wonderful discussion about all that and more. I’m looking forward to re-listening to our interview and sharing it with you. Stay tuned.