Mark Deutsch Dies at 63: From Sitar to Bazantar, a Singular Musical Legacy
We’re sad to share that bassist and musical innovator Mark Deutsch has died. Deutsch was the inventor of the Bazantar, a six-string double bass fitted with twenty-nine sympathetic strings and four drone strings. Its sound blended the power of Western classical music with the spirituality of Eastern traditions.
Deutsch was a professional musician since he was 12 years old. He was classically trained on the double bass and eventually played the sitar.
“He gained extensive experience in orchestral and world music ensembles, jazz combos, and solo sitar performance,” his website explains. “While studying North Indian classical music with the legendary sitar and surbahar master Ustad Imrat Khan (younger brother of Ustad Vilayat Khan), Mark began delving deeper into the universal fundamentals of music and its underlying frequency structures. This, in turn, led him to his quest to develop an instrument that could reproduce his findings.”
You can hear the bazantar in action and Deutsch’s thoughts behind the instrument in this fascinating video.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mark Deutsch.
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
Very sad news. Condolences from Basses I’d Like To Pluck and I.
Mark, your music is immortal, your soul’s music lives on the the universal spheres of healing. Your soul sister, Ren
Mark was such an amazingly creative man and his album “FOOL” is still one of my most favorite pieces of healing art. His love of sound, music and resonance was unsurpassed. I will miss him being on the planet. May his music live on.
I’ll never forget you.
RIP Mark