Brij Bhushan Kabra (1937 – 12 April 2018) was an Indian musician who popularized the guitar as an instrument in Indian classical music. Kabra was born in 1937 to Goverdhanlal Kabra in

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

where he spent his youth. He was interested in sports and listened to Indian classical music but did not intend to become a musician and trained as a geologist. During a visit to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

he discovered the Hawaiian

lap 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 ...

and convinced his father to let him learn it by promising to only play classical music. Kabra then lived in Ahmedabad,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, learnt the instrument by imitating records, and later studied under

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...

. He modified the guitar by adding sympathetic and drone strings. Kabra became the first Indian musician to play '' raga'' on the guitar, performed publicly, and recorded the successful album ''

Call of the Valley ''Call of the Valley'' is a Hindustani classical album, recorded and released in 1968 on the label His Master's Voice. Conceived as a suite, the instrumental album follows a day in the life of an Indian shepherd from Kashmir, using ragas associat ...

'' (1967) with '' bansuri'' player

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the I ...

and ''

santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...

'' player

Shivkumar Sharma Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...

. The guitar was seldom used in Indian classical music, and his guitar playing gained popularity in the 1970s hippie culture. Kabra recorded solo albums and concentrated on teaching since the 1990s but continued to perform. He was awarded the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1983–84, was made a fellow of the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi for 1995–96, and received the national Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2005. Kabra died on 12 April 2018 in Ahmedabad at age 81.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kabra, Brij Bhushan 1937 births 2018 deaths Hindustani instrumentalists Indian guitarists Rajasthani people People from Jodhpur Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Slide guitarists