Healing is an oft-overused term when it comes to music. As an art form, it is naturally calming, but it takes a rare simplicity for music to truly transform into a healing experience. For Bhrigu Sahni, the tanpura was the source of this simplicity. With his EP Tanpura jam that was released in October, the musician turns to the simplest melodies for a quiet respite from fast-paced rhythms.

“As a young boy, I remember listening to an audio cassette tape of Ali Akbar Khan Sahab playing a couple of ragas. It was just him with the tanpura and the regular alaap,” explains Sahni, over a phone call from Goa. The EP began as an exercise in music during the pandemic.