Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is an

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

instrumentalist who plays the

Mohan veena Mohan veena refers to either of two distinct plucked string instruments used in Indian classical music, especially Hindustani classical music which is associated with the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The first of these was a mix of ...

(

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

Personal life

Bhatt lives in

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, with his wife and two sons. His elder son Salil Bhatt is a

player (and also a player of the ''Satvik veena''). His younger son Saurabh Bhatt is a Music Composer who has composed music for Films, Albums,Tv serials .Bhatt's parents, Manmohan Bhatt and Chandrakala Bhatt were teaching and performing musicians, who imparted knowledge of music to V.M Bhatt. His nephew,

Krishna Bhatt Krishna Mohan Bhatt (born 1949) is a sitar player, teacher and scholar from Jaipur, India. Background He comes from a family of musicians in Jaipur. His father, the late Shashi Mohan Bhatt, a sitarist of great repute and a professor at the Un ...

, plays the sitar and tabla. He is the younger brother of

Manju Mehta Manju is a Sanskrit word meaning pleasant, sweet, snow, beautiful, clouds, morning dew and is predominantly an Indian female given name. * Manju Kak, a Kashmiri wri ...

who is co-founder of Saptak School of Music at

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

and a trained disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. VishwaMohanBhatt20090918

Career

Bhatt is best known for his Grammy award winning album ''

A Meeting by the River ''A Meeting by the River'' is an album recorded by Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt; it was recorded in September 1992 and released in April 1993 through the record label Water Lily Acoustics. This improvised, collaborative album features Cooder o ...

'' with

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

released on Water Lily Acoustics label. He is also known for other fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with Western artists such as

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

, Béla Fleck and

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has ...

. Exposure such as an appearance on the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival, organized by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

, allows his playing to reach a larger audience. Guitar duet release with Guitarist

Kapil Srivastava Kapil Srivastava (born 23 June) is an Indian guitarist, music author, composer, trainer from New Delhi. Kapil completed his education from DAV Public School and thereafter pursued his graduation in commerce from University of Delhi. He started ...

(guitarmonk founder) in the year 2016 for the composition "Merry Love Rain." Folk musician

Harry Manx Harry Manx (born 1955) is a Canadian musician who blends blues, folk music, and Hindustani classical music. His official website describes his music as being a "blend Indian folk melodies with slide guitar blues, add a sprinkle of gospel and ...

, who studied with Salil Bhatt for five years, plays a Mohan veena.

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

' bassist

Matt Malley Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

also plays a Mohan veena and is a student and friend of Bhatt. Australian musician

Lawrie Minson Lawrence (Lawrie) Minson (born 13 September 1958) is an Australian country musician, best known as a session player. Career Minson is the son of former Australian radio personality John Minson. His country music career commenced in 1979 acco ...

also learned Mohan veena from Salil. In October 2018, 19 year old Sukhnidh Kaur accused Vishwa Mohan Bhatt of "harassing" her when he performed at her school. Kaur was 14 years old at that time and was part of the school choir. Bhatt's son, Salil, has denied these allegations.

Select discography

*1992 - ''Guitar A La Hindustan'', Magnasound (India) *1992 - ''Saradamani'', Water Lily Acoustics *1993 - ''Gathering Rain Clouds'', Water Lily Acoustics *1993 - ''

'' (with

), Water Lily Acoustics *1995 - ''Bourbon & Rosewater'' (with

& Edgar Meyer), Water Lily Acoustics *1995 - '' Mumtaz Mahal'' (with

N. Ravikiran Narasimhan Ravikiran (born 12 February 1967) is an Indian slide instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and orator, who created the concept of melharmony. He is the son of gottuvadhyam player Chitravina Narasimhan and the grandson of Narayan Iye ...

), Water Lily Acoustics *1996 - ''Saltanah'' (with Simon Shaheen), Water Lily Acoustics *1996 - '' Tabula Rasā'' (with Béla Fleck &

Jie-Bing Chen Jiebing Chen (; sometimes credited as Jie-Bing Chen) is a Chinese musician based in the United States who specializes in the erhu (two-string fiddle). Biography Born in Shanghai, China, Chen turned professional when she was 9 and became a soldier ...

), Water Lily Acoustics *1996 - ''Sounds of Strings'', Music today, India *1997 - ''

Iruvar ''Iruvar'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language epic political drama film co-written, produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film, inspired by the lives of M. Karunanidhi, M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa is set against the backdrop of ...

'' (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

) *2002 - ''Indian Delta'' (with

Sandeep Das Sandeep Das is an Indian tabla player and composer currently based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. His collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma for The Silk Road Ensemble - Sing Me Home - won the Grammy award for Best World Music Album at the 59th ...

), Sense World Music, U.K. *2008 - ''Mohan's Veena'', Times Music, India *2010 - ''Desert Slide'', Times Music, India *2010 - ''Mohan's Veena II'', Times Music, India *2011 - ''Groove Caravan'', Deeksha Records, Canada *2012- "Morning Mist", Bihaan Music, Kolkatta, India *2014 - OMKARA - The Sound of Divine Love (with

Rupam Sarmah Rupam Sarmah is a musician, filmmaker, entrepreneur, author, sound engineer, and computer scientist. Rupam is a Guinness World Records holder and had a #1 release on the Billboard World Music chart (''Together in Peace'', 2017). He won a Gold Te ...

) *2015-"Vishwa Ranjini"-Bihaan Music, Kolkatta, India

Awards

* 1993

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

(Best World Music Album) – ''

''(With

) *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

, 1998 *

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, 2002 * Padma Bhushan, 2017

References

External links