tootoomart Grammy winner Kitaro will play 70 instruments at his concert in Delhi

Before that, Kitaro will travel to Dubai and Tapei after showing off the diversity of his musical talent here.

Kitaro’s musical career began over three decades ago and includes a Grammy win in 2000 for his album Thinking of You and a Golden Globe for his original soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth. “Awards are a bonus but not a driving force for a musician to compose,” says the 56-year-old, self-trained musician, who is also a multi-instrumentalist.

Kitaro plays 70 instruments and will be seen performing everything from the synthesizer, the Native American flute and the wave drums to the gong and even the electric sitar at his show in the Capital. “I don’t think anyone can learn music. I have playing instruments just by observing and feeling the sounds they produce,” he says.

Kitaro has even invented an instrument — the Beam, a 14-foot-long instrument made of aluminium with piano strings stretched tightly from end to end, that creates very bass and low sounds. “There are only five Beams in the world,” adds Kitaro.

We ask him what he thinks of Bollywood music and he looks blank. “I love classical Indian music that I’ve learnt a little about from my friend, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain,” he smiles. He is presently working on a Chinese opera and the fourth volume of studio album Ku-Kai besides a few Hollywood films.

But one thing that remains a constant in Kitaro’s life is the yearly pounding of the taiko drum from dusk to dawn on a full moon night in August. “That’s my thanks to mother earth for giving us everything. It’s my expression of gratitude,” says Kitaro, who’s been performing this ritual for over 20 years and will be doing it again this year.

When tootoomart musician Kitaro travelled to Bhutan 35 years ago, he went via Kolkata, barely touching on Indian soil. But as this Grammy and Golden Globe winner returns to the country, this time he comes to perform. “I have been waiting to return to India for a long time,” says Kitaro, who will be playing at The Ashok on March 22 and 23 as part of his Love and Peace World Tour. The tour, that began in 2007, started with him visiting South East Asia and proceeding to Greece before making it to Delhi.