Take Five: The world of ‘classical crossover’

In November 2012, we started a series called ‘Take Five’, which would recommend five albums or artistes from various genres of international music. This series will be carried once in two months. This time, in the second part, we shall talk of five artistes from the ‘classical crossover’ genre.

AMONG western classical purists, the term ‘classical crossover’ generally evokes negative reactions. Many of them, accustomed to formal concert settings and rigid musical rules, believe it is doing more damage than good to the genre. To figure out what bothers them so much, we need to first understand what this phrase actually means.

According to a common definition, ‘classical crossover’ artistes are those who use heavy influences or play popular tunes of western classical music, but do not follow the rules governing the genre. They dress up trendily, use modern instruments and render pop tunes, thus targeting a wider audience.

Within this genre, there is also something called ‘operatic pop’, which refers to singers who do opera songs in a modern manner, or sing pop songs in an operatic style. A related field is ‘symphonic rock’, where bands play rock songs in orchestral style, but that is marketed as a completely different genre, as its audience is totally different.

Obviously, all this is a direct contradiction to the very philosophy of western classical music. If one looks at the traditional form of the music, two features set it apart. To begin with, the musicians have to compulsorily play pieces the way the composers had written them. There is no question of even the slightest modification, or of introducing a personal style. Secondly, the atmosphere at classical shows is largely formal, whether it comes to the overall ambience, the dress codes of musicians or the behaviour of the audience. No matter how much the listener is moved by the music, one cannot clap between movements or even utter ‘Wow’ aloud.

Western classical music has its own beauty and charm, and contains some of the most haunting, romantic or powerful pieces ever written. But the entry of newer forms like jazz, pop and rock in the 20^th century ensured that its market went down. Keeping this in mind, a section of musicians and music industry professionals thought of new ways to reach out to both the masses and to youngsters, using western classical music as a base. This was how ‘classical crossover’ was born, somewhere in the mid-1990s. Some people associate it with what was called ‘new age’ music.

In ‘classical crossover’, musicians may do some of the following things. They may adapt old classical pieces by adding drums, guitars or electronic instruments to make them sound peppier and more contemporary. They may compose modern and catchy tunes featuring classical instruments like the violin, viola, cello, harp or piano. They may take popular operatic arias and sing them without the frills, in a mass-oriented style. Or they may take pop songs and give them a classical treatment.

It’s not only in the music, actually. The musicians dress up fashionably, grow their hair any which way, appear in sensuous music videos, dance on stage and even encourage the audience to clap and shout during their performance.

To the purist, all this is complete blasphemy. Yet, slowly and steadily, the genre has attracted a following of its own, mainly comprising people who do not believe in rules and those who are not as musically knowledgeable as the more serious listeners. More than anything else, it has exposed people to the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, and the promoters of the genre believe that those who enjoy ‘classical crossover’ will eventually listen to the purer form.

Technically, the first successful ‘classical crossover’ album was violinist Vanessa-Mae’s ‘The Violin Player’, released in 1995. But prior to that, there were many efforts to bridge the gap between classical and pop.

When Luciano Pavarotti sang ‘Nessun Dorma’ at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the song became so popular that it gave opera music a newer appeal. Similarly, pianist Richard Clayderman, though known more for doing versions of well-known pop songs, also played a few classical favourites in his own style.

Dutch violinist Andre Rieu took well-known classical compositions, including waltzes by Johann Strauss II, and gave them new orchestrations, besides adding entertainment and showmanship at his concerts. Greek composer Yanni composed many tunes that were rooted in the classical style, but were admired by those who liked popular music too. He was labelled a new age musician.

The success of Vanessa-Mae’s album, however, made the industry sit up and think. They looked for artistes who were ready to market and position themselves in a very modern manner, and also play orchestral music their own way.

In the past 17 years or so, many musicians have become part of the genre. Here, we list five artistes with whom one can begin, along with a little background. At the end, we shall name a few more, as recommended listening.

Vanessa-Mae: A British violinist of Far Eastern origin, Vanessa actually started off as a purely classical violinist, recording the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos. Over time, she decided to blend techno music with classical violin, and released ‘The Violin Player’ in 1995. Most pieces on the album were new, but Vanessa also played Bach’s famous ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’.

Her music was initially described as ‘techno-classical’ and even ‘violin techno-acoustic fusion’. But the huge success of ‘The Violin Player’ and the subsequent entry of other musicians with similar ideas led to the term ‘classical crossover’.

Vanessa later released albums like ‘Storm’, ‘Subject to Change’ and ‘Choreography’, the last one featuring Greek composer Vangelis and India’s very own A R Rahman on the tune ‘Raga’s Dance’. She has collaborated with pop artistes like Janet Jackson, George Michael and Prince, but hasn’t done a new recording in nine years.

Maksim: The pianist grew up in war-torn Croatia but never let anything affect his music studies. His began his recording career with ‘Gestures’, which contained the works of contemporary Croatian composers including the popular Tonci Huljic, but achieved international success with ‘The Piano Player’, where he improvised on pieces by well-known classical composers Handel, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Rimsky-Korsakov.

His next album ‘Variations Parts 1 & 2’ had some traditional tunes from Croatia, besides variations of classical compositions by Bach, Tchaikovsky and Chopin. Later albums like ‘A New World’, ‘Electrik’ and ‘Pure’ have used similar combinations, and one of his best pieces is his adaptation of Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, where he has used many other instruments too.

Bond (in picture on top):  An all-girl British-Australian string quartet, Bond rose to fame in 2000 with its debut album ‘Born’. Interestingly, the album was removed from the classical charts as traditionalists felt it was too pop. But it became popular because of some tunes composed by Croatian Tonci Huljic (specially ‘Victory’) and a modern version of Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812’.

Consisting of two violinists, one viola player and one cellist, Bond was known for its fashionable stage costumes, energetic live performances and trendy videos like ‘Explosive’. It has also released the albums ‘Shine’ (which included a string version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’), ‘Classified’ and ‘Play’, which includes rearrangements of classical composer Vivaldi and a crossover version of A R Rahman’s ‘Jai Ho’ from the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

Andrea Bocelli: An operatic tenor, the blind Bocelli has practised both classical and pop territories with equal passion, and has played a major role in popularising ‘operatic pop’.

On the classical side, the Italian’s album ‘Sacred Arias’ is a huge success among those who follow spiritual music. He’s also released many full-length operas on CD, but albums like ‘Bocelli’, ‘Sogno’, ‘Andrea’, ‘Amore’ and ‘Passione’ reflect his crossover side. Among other songs, his versions of Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ and the standard ‘Autumn Leaves’, and his duet with Celine Dion on ‘The Prayer’ have added to his mass following.

Sarah Brightman: British actress and singer Sarah Brightman has established herself as the biggest selling soprano of all time. Besides English, she has rendered songs in various European languages, Chinese and Japanese.

Married to and divorced from renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Brightman first earned fame on the stage, specially with the musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. She actually released a few crossover albums before Vanessa-Mae, including the well-known ‘Dive’, but her fame as a singer expanded hugely after 1995 with consistent live performances and new releases. Her albums ‘La Luna’, ‘Harem’ and ‘Symphony’ are considered among the best in the genre, and she’s currently working on her latest venture ‘Dreamchaser’, due for release in April.

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Besides these five artistes, one can try out violinists Catya Mare and Lindsey Stirling, pianist Myleene Klass, singers Romina Arena and Katherine Jenkins, and the operatic pop vocal group Il Divo. There’s also singer Josh Groban, who besides many easy listening numbers, dabbles in crossover.

These are good enough to begin with, but as mentioned before, appreciation of ‘classical crossover’ depends on how open your mind is to experimentation. It’s relatively a new genre, and may take a few more years to be really established.

A memorable night with the Mekaal Hasan Band

(Left to right): Vocalist Javed Bashir, guitarist Mekaal Hasan and flautist Mohammad Ahsan Papu

GIG REVIEW

Artistes: Mekaal Hasan Band

Venue and date: Blue Frog, Mumbai; January 8, 2013

Genre: Sufi-jazz-rock fusion

Rating: *****

ON the night of Tuesday, January 8, Mumbai’s Blue Frog was packed to capacity when the Mekaal Hasan Band arrived on stage. Around 10.20 pm, vocalist Javed Bashir began the opening lines of the Shah Hussain-penned song ‘Sajan’ to a huge applause. Flautist Mohammad Ahsan Papu followed up with a soothing stretch, and guitarist-bandleader Mekaal Hasan, bassist Amir Azhar and drummer Fahad Khan played marvellously. The night had just begun.

Formed in Lahore in 2001, the Mekaal Hasan Band or MHB is easily one of the best groups fusing east and west. Its music is an intricate blend of classical and Sufiana vocals with jazz, rock, funk and eastern folk elements. And though Pakistani bands like Junoon, Strings and Fuzon have probably played more in India, MHB has its own cult following, created largely through its two albums ‘Sampooran’ and ‘Saptak’.

The best thing about MHB is that one never finds a weak spot in their renditions. As a live act, they’re just stunning and flawless. As a singer, Javed is simply outstanding, whether he’s rendering the words of Sufi kaafis or modern love songs, or presenting taans, sargams and harkats. His voice has that raw and natural charm, and he travels between the low, middle and high registers with such effortlessness that you believe there’s some kind of a computer in his throat.

Add to that the quality of the band and the beauty of the compositions. Mekaal, who studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, is an absolute virtuoso with the guitar. Rock riffs, jazz improvisations and folk melodies flow through those strings magically. Papu is a delight with the flute, and can play lengthy solos with immense control and emotion. Bassist Amir and drummer Fahad are perfect on the rhythm section, providing just the right texture. In short, here’s a five-member band with five lead musicians.

The set lasted a little over two hours. ‘Sajan’ was followed by the uptempo ‘Raanjha’ and ‘Jhok Ranjhan’, another adaptation of a Shah Hussain kaafi. Then came the masterpiece ‘Sanwal’, written by contemporary Pakistani poet Farhat Abbas Shah. The words “O kabhi aa mil sanwal yaar wey… Mere roo roo cheekh pukar wey” resonated in the venue.

Up next was the gem ‘Waris Shah’, written by the great Punjabi writer and poet Amrita Pritam to express her anguish against the violence that took place following Partition. ‘Bandeya’, written by modern poet Ahmed Anis, boasted of spitfire riffs from Mekaal. Sufi poet Bulleh Shah’s ‘Chal Bulleya’ had the wonderful lines “Chal Bulleya chal uthay chaliye, jithey saare anay, na koi saadi jaat pacchane, na koi sannu manne,” besides some charming flute and guitar passages.

The band then moved into ‘Andholan’, brilliantly set to raga Kirwani, with some smart guitar and bass, a great drumming background, and the lines “Tore bina mohay chain na aave, yaad mein tori jiya ghabraave, gin gin taare main ratiyan guzaroon, birha sataave, mora man tadpaave.” Javed was brilliant on ‘Mahi’, one of the most beautiful and moving love songs written by the band.

Next in line was ‘Sampooran’, which had amazing flute and guitar passages, before Javed suddenly went into the popular raga Yaman composition ‘Eri aali piya bina’. This song was beautifully adapted for live performance, considering that the studio version makes good use of vocal over-dubs. The last of their own compositions was ‘Ya Ali’, in which a vigorous sargam intro and an energetic bass-and-drum line were followed by the lines “Ya ali mushkil kusha, mushkil kusha ki jiye,” before a spectacular guitar solo.

Though the band didn’t play some of their other popular numbers like ‘Raba’, ‘Darbari’, ‘Albaella’ and ‘Huns Dhun’, it got into popular qawwali mood towards the end. The finale was an excellent adaptation of the famous ‘Damadam mast qalandar’, with Javed excelling in the nuances. It was one of the most innovative versions of the song one has heard.

As happens with most wonderful bands, a sizeable section of Mumbai’s musicians had come to see the band. In the audience, we spotted guitarists Mahesh Tinaikar, Ehsaan Noorani, Babu Choudhary and Ravi Iyer, drummer Ranjit Barot, singer Mahalakshmi Iyer and members of the band Agnee.

It was an absolutely memorable evening. Over the years, Mumbai hasn’t seen too many shows by MHB. They had performed at the Shanmukhananda Hall in 2005 and a couple of years later at the St Andrew’s Auditorium to launch their album ‘Sampooran’ in India. A show scheduled at Blue Frog two years ago was sadly cancelled.

After Mumbai, MHB is slated to do three shows in Delhi over the next week. We just hope they keep coming back, to give a live treat to Mumbai’s true music lovers. And, of course, one is eagerly looking forward to their next album.

RATING: * Terrible; ** Hmmm… okay; *** Decent: **** Super; ***** Simply out of the world

MSG: The violinist who unified south and north

IN Carnatic music, the word ‘trinity’ has been used to group different kinds of luminaries together. The Holy Trinity of composers consists of Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshikar and Syama Sastri. The Divine Vocal Trinity comprises the late MS Subbulakshmi, DK Pattamal and ML Vasanthakumari. And the Violin Trinity refers to Lalgudi Jayaraman, TN Krishnan and MS Gopalakrishnan.

Each member of these trinities has played a path-breaking role in the history of Carnatic music. Naturally, it came as a huge shock to hear of the demise of MS Gopalakrishnan, fondly known as MSG, on Thursday, January 3. The simplest way one could describe his music is with the word ‘unique’. In fact, his death comes as a major loss not only to Carnatic music, but to Indian music as a whole.

What made MSG special is that he was equally adept at both south Indian Carnatic and north Indian Hindustani music. In fact, he was probably the only musician from his generation who deeply specialised in and regularly performed both.

Considering that the styles and techniques of both forms are vastly different, that both require a completely different performance mindset and that even audiences for both have subjective approaches to appreciation, this wasn’t an easy task. Even from the rhythmic point of view, the Carnatic musician is often joined by two or three percussionists, whereas the Hindustani musician normally has one tabla accompaniment, as a result of which the whole concept of ‘layakari’ (rhythm-play) has separate approaches.

There have been numerous examples of Hindustani musicians adapting Carnatic ragas and playing them in the north Indian style ― Pandit Ravi Shankar being the foremost. There have been Hindustani percussionists playing Carnatic rhythms ― the way Ustad Zakir Hussain plays adi talam, for instance. Similarly, there have been cases of musicians being rooted in Carnatic music, but later specialising and excelling in Hindustani ― violinist N Rajam being the leading instance. And there have been numerous north-south jugalbandis where representatives of both styles play in their own way and yet manage to make the two meet.

MSG played both styles with equal dexterity and passion. He at times used south Indian techniques while playing north Indian music, and vice versa, but never compromised on the purity of the form, or indulged in gimmickry to please the gallery. He was also deeply familiar with western violin technique and there were instances when he incorporated that too. And all this while maintaining a perfect balance between technical virtuosity, melodic soul and musical charm.

Part of his mastery came from his heritage, of course. His father Parur Sundaram Iyer was a violin wizard who initiated what came to be known as the ‘Parur technique’, which blended the Carnatic style with Hindustani elements picked up through his interaction with doyens Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and Omkarnath Thakur. MSG’s brother MS Anantharaman was a virtuoso too.

As a youngster, MSG picked up the nuances of the Parur technique, including one-finger playing, use of a long bow, and special fingering and bowing styles. As a result, he could play Carnatic gamakas and Hindustani meends with equal ease. He began to research deeper into this style, and his early interactions with Hindustani stalwarts Omkarnath Thakur, Dattatreya Vishnu Paluskar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan helped him even further. Interestingly, Omkarnath Thakur also groomed N Rajam into one of the finest Hindustani violinists.

MSG’s efforts, which were also helped by his understanding of western violin, led to what is now called the ‘Parur-MSG Bani’. Regular solo concerts in both Hindustani and Carnatic styles, and jugalbandis with artistes like flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan made him one of the most accomplished musicians of India. Undoubtedly, he was also a huge influence on many other musicians, who learnt something new from his distinct technique.

As a teenager growing up in Delhi, I was lucky to have heard MSG in concert on a few occasions. Though my first exposure to Indian violin was at a stunning Hindustani concert by N Rajam, I got a chance to see Carnatic giants like Lalgudi, Krishnan, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and MSG in due course, and was later exposed to L Subramaniam and L Shankar. Over the years, I also picked up some of their recordings, and from the MSG catalogue, his ragas Bhimpalasi and Puriya with the label Magnasound, his duets with Carnatic flautist N Ramani, and the albums ‘Gems of Purandaradasa’, ‘Daasarathi’ and ‘Entanerchina’ remain personal favourites.

It’s been over a decade since I last attended his concert. Now, two of his children have taken to the violin. I am yet to hear his son Suresh, but a few months ago, I saw his daughter M Narmadha at the Fine Arts Society in Chembur, Mumbai. It had poured cats and dogs that day, and though the venue was on my way home from work, it was certainly not a great idea to wade through knee-deep waters to attend a concert. But having heard so much about her, I had to see what MSG’s daughter sounded like.

I literally counted only 24 people in the audience that day. But Narmadha was undeterred, and played marvellous music for nearly two hours, giving many glimpses of her father’s genius and yet, playing in her own individual, thoroughly-researched manner.

Surely, her individuality of rendition would be in the genes. After all, MSG was one of the most original musicians India has produced, and he leaves behind a rich legacy and many magical memories. With his death coming just three weeks after Ravi Shankar passed away, this has been a rather sad period for Indian music.

Further reading:

For details on how the violin is played in India, check the earlier blog https://narenmusicnotes.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/instruments-from-india-1-violin/

For a blog on the Carnatic music scene in Mumbai, see https://narenmusicnotes.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/a-case-for-more-carnatic-music-in-mumbai/

The hilarious and crazy world of music snobs

(Image taken from zazzle.com)

WE come across them everywhere ― at hi-fi parties, in concert halls, at record stores, on Facebook and Twitter, in airport toilets, at trendy literature fests, or even writing newspaper reviews which only they can understand. They are essentially music lovers like most of us, the only scary difference is that they belong to that ever-increasing breed of ‘music snobs’.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet these movers and fakers. Very obviously, they suffer from a syndrome called IKE, short for ‘I Know Everything’, or in more incurable cases IKMTE, or ‘I Know More Than Everybody’. At the slightest pretext, they begin to boast of their in-depth knowledge of music, and they do that with such conviction and passion that ordinary people like you and me suffer from a lifelong inferiority complex. Best-selling albums, radio hits, party anthems, bubblegum pop and Kola-viral sensations are things they are naturally allergic to.

Now, one would presume these music snobs would listen to only the highbrow classical genres. However, that may not necessarily be the case. Rock and jazz, Hindi film and ghazal, techn-oh and torture-oh, you’ll find them everywhere. Let’s check out a few prototypes, beginning with international music and then getting into Indian music:

The western classical snobs: For them, legends like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven are passé. Such bland music is heard only by those new to the genre, or those who are seriously musically-challenged. The names they like to drop are Stravinsky, Sibelius and Stockhausen, whom the average follower of the genre barely knows.

These characters will attend a concert in their black tuxedos, if male. If female, the typical attire is a Hollywood styled red carpet gown showing off mammoth mounds of upper arm flab and VVS-E diamond solitaire earrings dangling to their ankles. Their Habit Rouge or Issey Miyake perfumes are strong enough to make the musicians on stage faint.

Before the show, they will talk of how they stopped listening to Mahler, Mussorgsky or Mendelssohn, or whoever’s music is to be played that night, and will quickly rattle off a laundry list of politicians, industrialists, film stars and opera singers they have had breakfast with. During the show, you better not cough, tap your fingers or worse, clap between movements, or these folks will give you the kind of glare that your spouses have never managed all their lives.

The jazz snobs: They hate western classical music, which they find too structured and boring. For them, music has to be improvised and spontaneously created, and the weirder and more incomprehensible it gets, the more ‘avant garde’ or ‘experimental’ they find it.

Compulsorily, these aficionados would have visited New Orleans, the cradle of jazz, some 750 times in their fictitious past, and attended each and every international jazz festival at least 50 times. Naturally, they find these Indian jazz concerts downright mediocre, and believe the people who attend these shows are huge ignoramuses.

Referring to the most popular names, they are most likely to say: “How can you people listen to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, John McLaughlin, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald…? You must hear Bix Beiderbecke, Artie Shaw, Django Reinhardt, Herb Ellis, Arturo Sandoval.” Or when it comes to the piano: “I just can’t stand Oscar Peterson and Herbie Hancock. I only listen to Thelonious Monk.” And being serious jazz addicts, they like to improvise their show-off sentences every minute.

The blues snobs: You’ll see quite a few of them in Mumbai next month, at the next edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival. Their breaths will reek of Glenfiddich single malt whisky and Montecristo cigars, their fingers will constantly play an imaginary Fender Stratocaster air guitar, and their tongues will lash out names of bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Son House and Leadbelly. As for the biggest blues artistes Muddy Waters, BB King and Buddy Guy, sorry, they are too commonplace. And today’s lot? “Blaah, they’ve massacred the blues!!”

To show off their knowledge of the blues, they begin each conversation with the line: “The blues had a baby and they called in rock n roll.” These muddy buddies, guys and kings are also deep into serious lyrics, their favourite being: “Woke up this morning, and my baby’s gone away… she’s gone with another man, leaving me here to play. A-hooo. A-hooo.”

The rock snobs: Their world begins and ends with the Woodstock festival held in 1969, even though they might have been barely three months old at that time. A few months ago, some of them would have attended Santana’s concert in Bangalore, and come out with a PhD thesis titled: “He was awful compared to Woodstock.” Never mind if they didn’t even know when Santana played the song ‘Soul Sacrifice’ that night. Similarly, they would have skipped the Guns N’ Roses show because guitarist Slash didn’t come, even though he left the band 16 years ago.

Meet these people at record stores, and you’ll find them confusing the sales staff with names like Long John Baldry, Steeleye Span, Bad Religion, Spencer Davis Group and Mott the Hoople. And when the staff offers them something as simple as Rolling Stones, the Doors and Pink Floyd, they feel seriously insulted and humiliated.

They keep boasting about how they’ve seen Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Grateful Dead live in the 1970s, and the original Pink Floyd unlike today’s lot which has only seen splinter groups. They carry their own dictionary, filled with words like ‘Hammond B3’, ‘shredding’, ‘wah wah’, ‘distortion’, ‘Fender Rhodes’, ‘Zildjian’, ‘a cappella’, ‘Moog’, ‘progressive’, ‘post-punk’ and ‘grindcore’, and are very quick at changing topics when asked to explain these terms.

The world music snobs: Among the more recent tribes to invade Mother Earth. These people stopped listening to classical, jazz and rock in the year 1980, and are now hellbent on checking sounds from any part of the world except the US, the UK and India. They have no understanding of Japanese, Swahili or Finnish, but will listen to that music devotedly, crying at happy songs, and merrily dancing to tunes that talk of despair and devastation.

The musicians they like to boast of are Edith Piaf from France, Angelique Kidjo from Benin, Ali Farka Toure from Mali, Sikiru Adepoju from Nigeria, Nana Vasconcelos from Brazil, Giovanni Hidalgo from Puerto Rico, Carmen Consoli from Italy, Hevia from Spain, Umm Kulthumm from Egypt and Sevara Nazarkhan from Uzbekhistan. Ironically, if you check their school records, most of them would have flunked in geography.

The Hindustani classical snobs: The magic word is silk, whether it’s a kurta or a saree. While the women will wear an assortment of flowers and a full moon-sized bindi, the men will have two extreme hairstyles ― either very long hair like Zakir Hussain or no hair at all.

Whatever, their primary mission is to prove how much more they know than everyone else in the nearest 10,000-km radius. If you say you’re a fan of Ravi Shankar, they’ll try and prove why Vilayat Khan was more soulful. And if you say you admire Vilayat Khan, they’ll explain why Ravi Shankar was more innovative. Basically, they were born to prove everyone else wrong, and this was actually written in their birth certificates.

The Hindustani classical snob has mugged up the names of all the ragas ever created, though he honestly doesn’t know which raga contains how many notes. But if you talk of common ragas like Yaman, Puriya Kalyan and Piloo, he will flaunt his knowledge of rare compositions in Malti Basant, Hanskinkini and Khambavati. The moment he sees an actual musician, he’ll disappear.

The Carnatic music snobs: They can’t stand any music created in the west, east and north, and even south of Kanyakumari. But unlike the snobs from other genres, they don’t belittle people who listen to Carnatic music, but instead focus all their energies on telling everybody else how this genre is far superior to everything else.

They have their reasons, of course. No other form of music has 72 parent scales and makes such intricate use of microtones, they inform you. And if that goes above your head, they’ll proudly say that India’s first music Bharat Ratna was given to a Carnatic musician, the divine M S Subbulakshmi. Once you show some understanding of their statements, they will take you into the world of Thyagaraja, Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, the holy trinity of Carnatic composers, claiming they are direct descendants of one or all of them.

Their biggest enemy is ‘fusion’ music, which the newer generation of Carnatic musicians is so blindly practising. “How can anyone replace mridangam with tabla, and play violin with guitar?” is their question.  Scared of hearing anything remotely close to fusion confusion, they have stopped attending concerts totally, and prefer to hear music only through their vast CD collection. But call them music snobs, and they will smile back: “I am a purist, that’s all.”

The ghazal snobs: The men and women of words, literally. If you thought the ghazal wave took place in the 1980s, these people believe ghazals died in 1979, when singers tried to popularise the genre with simpler words, pop tunes, and most ridiculously, singing about alcohol to ensure their songs could be played in bars.

These linguistically bright people brush their teeth to Ghalib, shampoo their hair to Mir Taqi Mir and button their sherwanis to Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Day in and night out, they’ll attack you with a volley of shers in chaste Urdu, and etiquette demands you say ‘Kya baat hai’ and ‘Irshaad’ even if you don’t follow a word they utter.

Most of them believe in only two ghazal singers – Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hassan. Mention anyone else, and you risk yourself another round of poetry, followed by technical jargon like ‘matla’, ‘makta’, ‘kaafiya’ and ‘radeef’. Never mind, it’s always fun to see two ghazal snobs in conversation ― with both trying to prove who knows more, they almost end up in fistfights each time, with good poetry turning into foul language.

The old Hindi film music snobs: These are people who you’ll find in every nook and corner. Half of India loves old Hindi film music, and 80 per cent of them think nobody else appreciates it as well as them.

Put out a Facebook fun poll on ‘your 10 personal favourite Majrooh Sultanpuri songs’ or ‘your 10 favourite songs picturised on Shashi Kapoor’ and chances are that these people will attack everybody else who’s answered the survey because his own favourites are missing. “How can you miss this song and this song?” they’ll sneer. Then, they will put out their own top 10 which will consist of totally unheard songs which even the composers would have forgotten, or even have regretted making.

These masters at IKMTE are very likely to creep into online RD Burman fan clubs and wax eloquent about how Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanj- Anandji were better. At a party, if you mention you are a Madan Mohan fan, he’ll name 25 other music directors till you regret making that claim. And their worst target is the radio jockey ― no matter what they play, they’re accused of populist taste.

The new Hindi film music snobs: The happening dudes and divas. The people who keep up with the Joneses and Jennifers.

They have a very refined choice of music, filled with songs like ‘Fevicol’, ‘Munni badnaam’, ‘Sheila jawaan’, ‘Chammak challo’, ‘Chikni chameli’ and ‘Jalebi bai’, and they know the dance steps to all these anthems. And they seriously believe anybody who listens to classical, jazz, rock and ghazals has absolutely no taste in music, art or life.

Finally, the eclectic snobs: The latest of the lot, thanks to globalisation, YouTube and party conversation skills. People who listen to all types of genres without knowing the difference. They’ll talk of Beethoven, Bach, Brubeck, Buddy, Beatles, Bad Company, Bismillah, Bade Ghulam Ali, Balamuralikrishna, Burman, Badayuni, Balasubramaniam, Bhupinder, bhangra, be-bop, Bollywood and Bob Biswas in the same breath. They are the true wanna-Bs, and their tribe is increasing by the day.

Well, these were only a few random samples. The more you try and get deeper into music, the more you’ll interact with these music snobs. And though they probably know much more about specific genres than you and me, they are totally unaware of the basic principle that governs the art of listening – that all music is made from the same notes, and that no two sets of ears are the same. Hope they learn to enjoy and appreciate music as much as the lesser-talented lot. If they don’t, good entertainment for everyone else.

Dinosaurus Rox: The year of the aging rockstar

(Image taken from: CoolClips.com)

AAH, the rock dinosaur! The favourite target of rock journalists who’ve never held a guitar, and of con-‘noise’-urs who can’t differentiate between A, B or C. Chords, not alphabets.

What are their grouses against these dinosaurs? Lots, actually. One, the history-minded critics point out that these dudes have been playing for 30, 40 or 50 years, or even since the 16^th century, without showing any signs of retiring. Two, their snobbish hate club would sneer: “I’ve seen him regularly from 1967 to 1977, at all the venues in the world. He lost it after that but is still playing today to make money.” Finally, their poetry-minded foes might crib: “He is bloated, bald and broke. His voice sounds like a croak. He’s high from all that coke. His very existence is a joke.”

On top of that, these aging rockstars themselves hate being called dinosaurs. They still think they’re 17, going on 18.

Whatever, the anti-dinosaur anthro-apology club would be eating their words of hiss-dom today. Sadly for them, 2012 belonged to the rock dinosaur. Whatever their shape, size or senility, this breed of musicians has delivered some of the most creative music in the leap year gone by, reaching levels untouched by musicians 40 years younger.

Let’s begin with the oldest. Leonard Cohen, now 78. This Maharaja of Montreal isn’t R-O-C-K in the strictest sense, or in any sense, but he’s a dinosaur all right. In fact, he’s probably been called a dinosaur for 35 of the 45 years he’s played music. But being a man of old ideas, he released an absolute gem called ‘Old Ideas’. His voice sounded like he had a bout of chronic bronchitis, but how well it suited those songs! He’s been the world’s second-best singer-songwriter, after all.

That brings us to the world’s best singer-songwriter, outside of the Beatles. Robert Allen Zimmerman is what his parents named him, and Bob Dylan is what he named himself. At 71, he came out with this masterpiece called ‘Tempest’, filled with songs about the Titanic disaster, John Lennon, tyrants and murderers. His voice, to quote my earlier review, sounds like a cross between a morning brush gargle, an attack of whooping cough and bluesman Howling Wolf’s whisky-spruced wail. But lyrically and otherwise, this was a great set of songs, with simply no signs of adult Dylan-quency. He got five-star reviews in most publications, and these ratings definitely weren’t bought Bollywood-style.

Next, we come to two musicians born in 1947. That would make them 65 years young. The first is Carlos Santana. His last album was a guitar-based cover version catastrophe, and the previous three used every possible guest artiste existing on the scene. This time, he decided to do an instrumental album using influences as diverse as rock, jazz, Latin American and Cuban forms, European classical, Spanish flamenco and Hungarian folk melodies. Not as confusing as it sounds, and in fact, very listenable.  Appropriately, he named it ‘Shape Shifter’.

Carlos also did two rocking shows in India. Yes, he doesn’t sing or prance around like his fellow dinosaurs and stands endlessly in the same position and pose with his guitar, but the energy he created with his younger band was unbelievable. And talking of energetic gigs, wannabe dinosaur Axl Rose gave Bangalore, Mumbai and Gurgaon some of their most memorable nights, 15 years after the world had written him off, and after his band had Slashed off the name of its famous guitarist. At his show, Axl packed a paunch, and packed a punch too.

Coming back to the 1947-born rockers, there’s Ian Anderson. Never too old to rock n’ roll., Mr Jethro Tull has done three visits of India over the past decade just to earn some beer money, and each time his live singing went from verse to averse and worse. Now, he had to gall to do a sequel to his 1972 classic ‘Thick As A Brick’. And hats off to him, he’s done a really good job. It may take 15, 25 or even 105 listens to get the hang of ‘Thick As A Brick 2’, but once you crack it, you just feel like playing it again and again. One only hopes he doesn’t get so excited at the response that he does a Part 3 too. At least not for the next 40 years.

That brings us to the Sultan of String. At 63, Mark Knopfler is definitely not in dire straits musically. Like Anderson, he too did a very gutsy thing ― release a 20-song double album called ‘Privateering’ in an era when many current-day musicians can’t write three good songs in a single album. Horror of horrors, not one of the 20 songs was off the ‘Mark’. Each one had its own beauty, whether it was styled in the blues, Celtic music, southern rock, jazz or country. And his voice really dino-soars to newer heights.

Next, we had The Boss. Bruce Springsteen is still as ‘Born in the USA’ as he was when he entered this world 63 years ago. This year, he released lucky-13-set of songs on the album ‘Wrecking Ball’, which was less of a wreck and gave you more of a ball. Songs like ‘Jack of All Trades’ and ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ proved that Bruce is still Almighty.

The list of rejuvenated 60s-plus teenagers is endless. And the titles of their albums couldn’t have been more appropriate. Van Morrison, one of the most distinct voices in music, released ‘Born to Sing: No Plan B’. The Irishman attracted no ire for his effort, and actually received rave reviews. American band Lynyrd Skynyrd released ‘Last of a Dying Breed’. Truly said, but sadly, the album wasn’t released in India because the music label didn’t expect any great sales. Anyway, the music industry is a dying breed and not these bands. Aerosmith released ‘Music from Another Dimension’, though in this case, their earlier dimension sounded far better.

Forever young Neil Young continued his practice of releasing an album every year, with ‘Psychedelic Pill’. Kiss, who added glamour to the glam-rock movement with their unique costumes and make-up, released ‘Monster’ ― the make-up was definitely needed to hide what they now look like. Canadian monsters Rush released ‘Clockwork Angels’ with the intention of showing they are in no rush to stop. Scared of getting into any more major drunken brawls in the studio, AC/ DC and Iron Maiden put out live albums. Out of the blue, Van Halen woke up after 14 years to release ‘A Different Kind Of Truth’. Quite a scary truth, actually.

There were these golden jubilee affairs too. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and Dylan all celebrated 50 years of something connected with their existence in the music business. Eric Clapton did some charity shows to raise funds for a few people including himself, but while he remained relatively silent this year, he’s vowed to make up in 2013 when he celebrates 50 years of a career in music.

Besides playing like teenyboppers in their live shows, the Stones released a greatest hits compilation ― after brainstorming over its title for the past 25 years, they finally zeroed in on a name as creative as ‘GRRR!’ Worse, since Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were too scared to appear on the cover, they chose an equally handsome gorilla.

The surviving members of the Beatles did their best to stay in the news. Ringo Starr reminded the world that he too played with the band, by releasing an album called ‘Ringo 2012’. Needless to say, it wasn’t a patch on ‘Ringo 1962’.

And finally, we come to  the legendary Macca. At 70, Paul McCartney continued to do live performances and hobnob with the glitterati, besides releasing the album ‘Kisses on the Bottom’. He’s going strong, and we won’t be surprised if he’s begun writing ‘When I’m 84’.

Clearly, 2012 was the year of the aging rockstar. And, despite the odd exceptions here, there and everywhere, one can’t blame them for producing some great music. It’s in their blood after all, and they promise to get even better. Shudder!

Generation X-Rated should definitely be inspired by the rock dinosaurs. And from the buzz we hear, Justin Bieber has already taken the first step, by fixing up an appointment with a plastic surgeon so that he can look 70 years old. The issue is: No matter what any doctor can do to his body, they can never do anything to change that ghastly voice or music of his. These kiddos may just go ‘Gaga’ by dressing weirdly and getting their pretty faces printed in the tabloids.

Instruments from India – 4/ Sarangi

IN September, I had begun a monthly series on Indian musical instruments. The aim was two-fold: one, to make Indian readers aware of certain artistes they might not have heard before, and secondly, to expose relatively new audiences, mainly from the West, to the melodic or rhythmic beauty that various Indian instruments offer.

In this series, I shall not go into too many technicalities and playing styles. I shall focus on how the instrument is used in different genres, and mention the leading performers in each style. However, while I have tried to name all the main musicians, the lists mentioned are by no means exhaustive or complete. In all parts of the series, I shall use a similar format to maintain uniformity, and some portions on the concert structure may be repeated verbatim if needed.

The first three parts of the series talked about the violin, sitar and bamboo flute, respectively. This month, we feature the sarangi and other similar instruments.

ON December 18, I attended a tribute to sarangi maestro Ustad Sultan Khan at Mumbai’s Ravindra Natya Mandir. The event was held to mark his first death anniversary, which was on November 27.

The concert featured tabla wizard Ustad Zakir Hussain, his brother Fazal Qureshi, the Salim-Sulaiman duo, violinist Deepak Pandit, singer Akriti Kakar and Sultan Khan’s son Sabir Khan. Though the programme started an hour late, and the compere went on and on, it served its main purpose.

Sultan Khan (picture on right) has been one of India’s foremost sarangi players. His association with Zakir Hussain and many younger musicians, and his singing efforts like ‘Piya Basanti’, have made him popular among the newer generation. However, the credit for actually popularising the sarangi as a classical instrument goes to the great Pandit Ram Narayan (picture on left). The other well-known player is Ustad Sabri Khan.

We shall talk of other sarangi players later, but let’s begin with a description and brief history of the instrument. We shall talk of its use in various genres, and then discuss similar instruments.

Description and history: The sarangi is a bowed, short-necked string instrument that is used in Indian, Nepali and Pakistani music. It is said to be the Indian instrument that sounds closest to the human voice.

The name comes from the Hindi words sau (hundred) and rangi (colours), though another theory is that it’s derived from the Sanskrit words saar (summary) and ang (body).

Though it was originally used in north Indian and Nepali folk music, it found increasing use in classical music following the efforts of Ram Narayan, who even elevated it to the status of a solo instrument. Today, it is also used in Sufi music, ghazals and even in international music.

Hindustani music: In Hindustani music, the sarangi often plays the role of an accompanying instrument, though musicians like Ram Narayan, Sultan Khan and Sabri Khan have used it for solo rendition with tabla accompaniment.

In the former role, the instrument is used as an accompaniment in a vocal concert, or in a tabla solo recital, where the sarangi player provides the melodic mood and the lehra (repeated phrases while the percussionist is improvising). Though many vocalists later preferred the harmonium as an accompanying instrument, purists often say the sarangi sounds better because of its closeness to the human voice.

If the sarangi player is doing a solo concert, he usually begins with the rendition of a classical raga, the melodic mode used in Indian music. The first piece comprises a three-part movement beginning with the slow alaap, increasing tempo with the jod and reaching a faster climax with the jhala. Here, there is no tabla accompaniment.

After the alaap-jod-jhala sequence, the instrumentalist plays two or three compositions in the same raga, with percussion accompaniment. These are known as gats or bandishes. Once this first raga is over, the sarangi may play another raga, or may play certain light ragas, folk tunes or devotional pieces, depending on the time allotted.

As mentioned before, Ram Narayan is singularly credited with elevating the status of the sarangi to a solo instrument. In fact, once he established himself as a solo artiste, he practically gave up playing the role of an accompanist, though he continued to play in films. He helped popularise the instrument abroad through his visits to Afghanistan and China, and then to western countries.

While Ram Narayan’s son Brij Narayan opted for the sarod, his daughter Aruna Narayan Kalle and grandson (Brij’s son) Harsh Narayan are active on the sarangi circuit.

Sultan Khan represented the Indore gharana, and was closely associated with taking the instrument to other parts of the world, through his participation in fusion experiments. His son Sabir and nephew Dilshad are taking that branch forward.

Sabri Khan represented the Senia gharana, and has also played a major role in popularising the instrument in the West, besides doing the duet with violinist Yehudi Menuhin. His son Kamal Sabri and grandson Sohail Khan also give regular concerts.

Some of the other sarangi players have included Hanuman Prasad Mishra, Mamman Khan, Nathu Khan, Sagiruddin Khan, Abdul Lateef Khan and Shakoor Khan. Those popular today include Dhruba Ghosh, son of tabla maestro Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, Ramesh Mishra, a disciple of sitar great Pandit Ravi Shankar, and Ikram Khan, a student of Sultan Khan.

Besides pure music, the sarangi is also used as an embellishment in dIndian classical dance, specially in Kathak.

Hindi film music: The sarangi has been regularly played in Hindi film music by Ram Narayan, Sultan Khan, Sabri Khan and others. In fact, Ram Narayan originally came to Mumbai to play in film music. He was a regular with OP Nayyar, and also played with Naushad in Mughal-e-Azam and Ganga Jamuna, Madan Mohan in Adalat and Laxmikant-Pyarelal in Milan.

For his part, Sultan Khan lent his voice to many Hindi films, including the well-known ‘Albela sajan aayo re’ in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, besides songs in Maqbool, Jab We Met and Parzania, and often used sarangi in these film songs. He played the sarangi in the films Gandhi and Heat and Dust, and in the Tamil film Yogi.

More recently, A R Rahman got in Dilshad Khan to play the sarangi in the Rockstar song ‘Tum Ko’.

Experimental music, fusion and others: Some of the best known uses of the sarangi in fusion are Sultan Khan’s work in the Tabla Beat Science project, featuring Zakir Hussain, producer Bill Laswell and others, and the album Bhoomi, with Salim and Sulaiman. His album Piya Basanti, with singer Chitra, also made good use of the instrument

Among the pop groups, Delhi band Advaita has made prominent use of the sarangi through its member Suhail Yusuf Khan on its albums Grounded in Space and The Silent Sea.

International music:  American alternative band Blind Melon was one of the first to use the sarangi on its song ‘Sleepyhouse’ from its 1992 self-titled debut. But the world noticed it instantly when popular rock band Aerosmith got in Ramesh Mishra to play on the song ‘Taste of India’ from the 1997 album ‘Nine Lives’.

Other well-known instances are the progressive rock band Tool, on the song ‘Reflection’, and producer Robert Miles, on the album ‘Organik’.

Other similar bowed string instruments: Though the violin also falls in a similar broad category, it has a technique, tone and popularity of its own, and has been featured earlier in this series. Somewhat lesser-known instruments related to the sarangi include the esraj, dilruba and sarinda.

The esraj is primarily played in the states of West Bengal and Tripura, and  also in Bangladesh. It is used extensively in Rabindra Sangeet from Bengal. While well-known exponents have been the late Ranadhir Ray and Buddhadeb Das, it was used by spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy while meditating.

In contrast, the dilruba is played mainly in north India, and has been used in Sikh religious music. Ravi Shankar played it in the early stages of his career, as a teenager, and in the 90s, Rahman utilised it in the songs ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.

The sarinda uses a different kind of bow and is played in a lot of folk music from Rajasthan, Assam and Tripura, besides Baul music of Bengal. It is primarily used as an accompaniment for folk singers.

Sadly, the esraj and dilruba have declined in popularity, almost becoming extinct, and the sarinda is used in limited forms of music. The sarangi, for its part, has a lesser number of exponents compared to the sitar, sarod or bansuri, and it’s now left for the younger players to carry it forward. It is one of the most beautiful sounding and intense Indian instruments, of course, and that’s what makes it so special.

Carrying forward the legacy of Pandit Ravi Shankar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk60ObnbIOk

(In the YouTube link above) Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Allarakha at the Monterey pop festival in 1967

A lot has been written in the mainstream media about sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar following his sad demise on December 11. Most articles have played touching tributes to India’s biggest musical ambassador, and I personally was honoured to be asked to contribute by Mid Day newspaper, where I once worked. For those who haven’t seen that piece, the link is attached below.

However, it was shocking to see one newspaper reproduce a critical and controversial article published by a magazine some 12 years ago, on Ravi-ji’s relationship with his first wife Annapurna Devi. Whatever happened in his personal life, this was certainly not the time to rake up old issues, that too with something that was printed so long ago. I was at a wedding reception a few days ago, where many musicians attended, and a lot of them felt this was in very poor taste.

As mentioned in my newspaper article, Ravi-ji has done a lot to promote the cause and popularity of Indian classical music, both within the country and abroad. I won’t get into details again. What I would emphasise, however, is that rather than picking faults with his personal life, it is important for everyone from the musicians, the media, show organisers and even ardent fans to do their bit to carry his legacy and musical ideals forward.

Indian classical music, though extremely popular among its followers, still has a restricted audience compared to Hindi film music or western pop music. Ravi Shankar spared no effort in helping newer audiences understand the genre. I was lucky to have interviewed him five times, and spoken to him over the telephone on a few occasions. The first time, he charmingly tried to gauge my understanding of the genre, so that he could choose how to phrase what he wanted to say. He would explain the technicalities and tell stories in such a way that even lay listeners would be captivated.

A large section of today’s youngsters are unfortunately not exposed to so much Indian classical music, and prefer rock, dance music or Hindi film music. Though some listen to fusion music, purely classical concerts by and large attract the older generation, whether it is the north Indian Hindustani style or south Indian Carnatic style.

While musicians are doing their bit, the media should be more involved in educating the masses, specially the younger lot. Music channels barely feature this genre, and though newspapers carry interviews of musicians and listings of concerts, the amount of coverage isn’t adequate. They should be writing more about the music than what classical musicians eat or wear.

Keeping all this mind, I shall now talk about how youngsters or the uninitiated can go about listening to Ravi Shankar’s music. Everyone has his or own personal taste, and nowhere should they stop listening to what they enjoy. But  at the same time, it’s always good to open up one’s mind and listen to other genres. Based on one’s mood or the occasion, one can choose.

On first reaction, Ravi Shankar’s sitar will lend a calm and relaxing effect. But to appreciate it more, one should have a basic idea on how things work, and some of the terms used. One should know a little bit about the sitar, and the main practitioners of the instrument. For that, you could check my earlier blog on the sitar, which you’ll find on https://narenmusicnotes.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/instruments-from-india-2-sitar/

Having done that, it would be worthwhile to pick up some of Ravi Shankar’s recordings. One way is to randomly pick up some CDs from the stores or check out live performances or clips on You Tube. One could specifically look for ragas he excelled in, like Maanj Khamaj, Kirwani, Hem Bihag, Mishra Pilu, Pancham se Gara, Hameer Kalyani, Bhimpalasi or Charukeshi. These may be new names to many of you, but whatever raga you choose, you could just soak in the melody.

Finally, to get an idea of the diverse kinds of music he did, you could choose among the 10 CDs recommended below. There are so many recordings, and choosing only 10 wasn’t easy. Ravi Shankar did a good mix of purely classical music, east-west collaborations and devotional music, and even composed for a few films like the Apu Trilogy, Anuradha and Gandhi. While the film soundtracks are essential listening, I shall try to provide a balance between the other genres, with a brief description of what to expect. Do check them out.

The Sounds of India: This would be a great way to start because it contains an introduction to Indian music, and descriptions of the compositions. The ragas include Maru Bihag, Bhimpalasi and Sindhu Bhairavi. Chatur Lal plays the tabla.

Live at Monterey: This contains his recital at the historic Monterey pop festival in 1967. Here, he is accompanied by the legendary tabla maestro Ustad Allarakha. It was the first major exposure of rock and pop audiences to Indian classical music. Besides raga Bhimpalasi, it contains a fast light classical piece and a six-minute tabla solo recital. Ravi Shankar also played at the 1969 Woodstock festival, facing criticism for playing for a hippie crowd, and at the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, organised by George Harrison of the Beatles to raise funds for war victims.

For a clip from the Monterey festival, which defines the kind of storm Ravi Shankar created in the West, you could check the YouTube link pasted above.

Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000: The album is one of Ravi Shankar’s best sellers, mainly because it won the Grammy award for best world music album. Ragas Kaunshi Kanhada and Mishra Gara are played, and it also features his daughter Anoushka Shankar.

In Concert 1972 (with Ali Akbar Khan): This double album contains a jugalbandi (duet) with the great sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and has Ustad Allarakha on tabla. The ragas played are Maanjh Khamaj, Hem Bihag and Sindhu Bhairavi.

West Meets East: A 1967 collaboration with the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin, this was a unique experiment, much ahead of its time. The collaboration with the Indian sitar and western violin is mind blowing. The two of them released two more albums in the same series.

Passages: On this 1990 album, Ravi Shankar teams up with the well-known American composer Philip Glass. The style used is that of chamber music, and it also features the violin, cello, flute, saxophones, trombones and tabla.

Sitar Concertos 1 and 2: Ravi Shankar wrote two concertos, where the sitar was played prominently against the backdrop of orchestras from London. The first one was conducted by Andre Previn and the second by Zubin Mehta.

Shankar Family & Friends: This was a unique project that had devotional music, ballet and jazz. The pop bhajan ‘I Am Missing You’, sung by his sister-in-law Lakshmi Shankar became popular, and the album also features Ustad Allarakha, santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and sarod player Aashish Khan

Improvisations: Ravi Shankar first explored the amalgam of Indian music and jazz on this 1962 album, where he was joined by American saxophonist-flautist Bud Shank. A composition called ‘Rich a la Rakha’ is dedicated to drummer Buddy Rich and Ustad Allarakha. The sitar maestro later released another album called Jazzmine exploring a similar theme.

Chants of India: A must for every collection, as its contains ancient Sanskrit chants used in the Vedas and Upanishads, and some mantras. Very peaceful and soothing music.

Besides the CDs, it would be ideal if you could check out his autobiography Raga Mala, which gives a very clear picture of the man and his music. Ravi Shankar changed the way the world looked at Indian music, and it’s absolutely essential for every youngster to hear him.

 

The link to my Mid Day article, published on December 13, is http://www.mid-day.com/news/2012/dec/131212-Immortal-like-his-music-Pandit-Ravi-Shankar-sitar-American-violinist-Yehudi-Menuhin.htm

Guest article – Parag Kamani/ Rock of Ages

FOR me, this was one huge miss. Because of unavoidable personal work, I had to go outstation, and skip the Guns N’ Roses gig in Mumbai, though I had already written a curtain raiser called ‘Waiting for GNR’ in my blog. My good friend Parag Kamani, however, kindly consented to write a guest article for this blog.

Parag is a Mumbai-based music industry professional and music columnist. Kaansen Kalling extends gratitude to him for posting this.

 

Walking into the audience at Mumbai’s BKC to attend the Guns N’ Roses concert on December 9, 2012, I was filled with tepidity as only the vocalist from the original band, Axl Rose, remained its sole survivor. But from the smell of grass outside the venue to seeing a crowd numbering 10,000 people inside the MMRDA Grounds ensured that no one had devalued the strength of the band even if it was without the likes of guitarist Izzy Stradlin and, needless to say, Slash.

However, by the time the programme commenced at 7 pm or so, all doubts vanished about the competency of the band, supported by the tightness of the sound – at least where I was located i.e. in the standing Rs 3,000 priced “gold” category [the others were “silver” at Rs 1,500, also standing, and the seated Rs 10,000, located between these two categories] – as the now 50 year old Axl Rose cut into the title track of the band’s lesser known last album, Chinese Democracy.

While his distinctive voice has certainly lost its shine from the heydays of the ‘80s, he nevertheless put full effort into the songs performed as he played songs from the album that had made G N’ R superstars in the first place – Appetite For Destruction – with selections such as Welcome To The Jungle, It’s So Easy, Mr Brownstone, and Rocket Queen, among others.

As Axl took multiple breathers during the set by going off stage wherein he changed his tee, hat, jacket and, perhaps, the chains worn around his neck, it also provided the three guitarists – Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and DJ Ashba [who appeared to mimic the clothing and guitaring of Slash to the T] – to showcase their respective solo talents. And, for the record, as much as it would have been difficult to cater to an obviously, largely sceptical audience – like me – who would have preferred the original members representing G N’ R; on the whole, the “new” band was indeed brilliant in performance even if it did take three guitarists to reproduce what just two had done in the past. An observation provided to me was that most of the “new” band members have now had a stint with G N’ R a lot longer than the “original” line-up.

Axl obviously does not like to surprise the audience from a set list that is being utilised for the better part of the past several years but, for those who were not aware of it, paradoxically, there were surprises galore. There were the expected “covers” that have graced G N’ R albums from the past such as Paul McCartney & Wings’ Live And Let Die and the call [from Axl]-and-response [from the audience] on Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, which was dedicated to Mumbai, India, and to Freddie Mercury. [For the trivia-minded, the link with Mercury first occurred in 1992 when Guns N’ Roses appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performing a three-song set. Slash later performed Tie Your Mother Down with the surviving members of Queen, while Axl performed We Will Rock You and sang a duet with Elton John on Bohemian Rhapsody. When the band returned to the U.S. for the second leg of the Use Your Illusion tour, Queen guitarist Brian May and his band opened the shows.] Meanwhile, there were more covers too: Led Zeppelin’s No Quarter, an outstanding reading of The Who’s The Seeker, Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down and, surprise, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall [part II] – which commenced at the conclusion of the anthemic Sweet Child O’ Mine that had the audience sing along – with Axl seated at the piano before seguing into November Rain.

As the concert lasting three hours was coming to an end, the band went through the acoustic Patience, that had an extended opening sequence containing interplay between Thal and Ashba, a song that was revived by actor Tom Cruise through his movie – and vocals – from earlier this year, Rock Of Ages. The song concluded with cannons firing red confetti over the crowd. After some 32 songs [yes, count them!] containing instrumentals, popular tracks, covers, jams, and a few throwaways [mainly from Chinese Democracy], the concert was over, but one that was, without doubt, full value for money and thanks to Axl for that! “I’ve been wanting to come to India for the last 27 years,” he announced. “It’s finally happened [and] I’m so happy, I’m so thankful to you guys for being here.”

Indeed, if Guns N’ Roses had thorns from the past, he has had them removed for the present and ensured that the band merely requires an Axl to make it rock as a perfectly serviced vehicle in future!

 

Set List:

1. Chinese Democracy

2. Welcome To The Jungle

3. It’s So Easy

4. Mr. Brownstone

5. Estranged

6. Rocket Queen

7. Richard Fortus Guitar Solo

(Blacklight Jesus Of Transylvania)

8. Live and Let Die

(Wings’ cover)

9. This I Love

10. Better

11. Motivation

(Tommy Stinson song) (Tommy Stinson on lead vocals, with band introductions)

12. Dizzy Reed Piano Solo

(No Quarter by Led Zeppelin)

13. Catcher In The Rye

14. Street Of Dreams

15. There Was A Time

16. You Could Be Mine

17. DJ Ashba Guitar Solo

(Ballad of Death)

18. Sweet Child O’ Mine

19. Another Brick In The Wall Part 2

(Pink Floyd cover) (with Axl on piano)

20. November Rain

21. Objectify

(Bumblefoot cover) (Bumblefoot on lead vocals)

22. Don’t Cry

23. The Seeker

(The Who cover)

24. Civil War

25. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

(Bob Dylan cover)

26. Jam

27. Nightrain

Encore:

28. Don’t Let It Bring You Down

(Neil Young cover)

29. Jam

30. Patience

31. Jam

32. Paradise City

 

Line-up:

 Axl Rose – lead vocals (1985–present)

 Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, percussion, backing vocals (1990–present)

 Tommy Stinson – bass, backing vocals (1998–present)

 Chris Pitman – keyboards, backing vocals (1998–present)

 Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar (2002–present)

 Frank Ferrer – drums (2006–present)

 Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – lead guitar (2006–present)

 DJ Ashba – lead guitar (2009–present)

 

The incredible guitaring of Strunz & Farah

GIG REVIEW

Strunz & Farah

Genre: World music

Venue: Tata Theatre, Mumbai

Date: December 4, 2012

THERE may be no standard way to define the music of Strunz & Farah. The layperson may describe them as two outstanding acoustic guitarists. The more serious listener may call them ethno-jazz. Wikipedia puts them in the ‘new flamenco’ category. Yet others may call them improvisational acoustic guitar, or even more simply, guitar-based world music.

But then, what’s in a name? What one witnessed at Mumbai’s Tata Theatre on Tuesday, December 4, was nothing short of pure magic. For around two hours, guitarists Jorge Strunz and Ardeshir Farah transported the audience into another universe with their amazing virtuosity, breath-taking  improvisations and sheer artistic wizardry.

Ably assisted on flute, clarinet, bass and percussion, Strunz & Farah played 11 original compositions in their two-hour set. Many of us would have heard exceptional acoustic guitaring by the likes of John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia and Larry Coryell, but this wasn’t any different in terms of musical genius.

The event was organised as part of the Music Gurus series conceptualised and produced by Indigo Live, which had earlier done a show featuring Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on Mohan Veena, an adapted guitar, and Toumani Diabate of Mali on kora, a type of harp. On Tuesday, though one sadly saw many empty seats in the side wings, those who attended were left with warm memories.

Interestingly, one spotted many Mumbai musicians in the audience ― Gary Lawyer, Leslie Lewis, Ehsaan Noorani, Ranjit Barot, Sridhar Parthasarathy, some members of Indus Creed. And that’s something that happens only when the concert features performers of the highest calibre.

The duo has been performing together since 1980. Strunz, a Costa Rican, met Farah, an Iranian, in the US, and quickly they decided that though they were from different parts of the globe, they could team up to produce something unique.

While their music was heavily influenced by the Spanish style of flamenco, they added jazz improvisational techniques and diverse elements of Latin American folk, Cuban rumba, traditional Middle Eastern/ Iranian music and European gypsy music, thus sounding truly eclectic. The 80s marked a revival of flamenco music, thanks to guitarists like Paco de Lucia, Paco Pena and Tomatito, and the band Pata Negra.

Stunz & Farah sounded distinct through their unique mix. The term ‘new flamenco’ (or nuevo flamenco) became popular after an album of that name was released by guitarist Ottmar Leibert in 1990, and Strunz & Farah were classified in that genre, though their actual mix is much wider.

The distinct influences were definitely visible at Tuesday’s show. The group began with the tracks ‘Luxuriance’ and ‘Night Jasmine’, but the obvious highlights were ‘Vela al Viento’, which featured a stunning guitar stretch by Strunz, ‘Raggle Taggle’, which had charming European gypsy influences, ‘Jamilah’, which blended various Iranian motifs with a global sound, and ‘Amber and Musk’, which had a good amalgam of Middle Eastern melodies and Latin American rhythms.

For the last piece, Strunz announced ‘Twilight at the Zuq’, but an ardent fan in the audience requested the popular ‘Bola’. The guitarist accepted, and the dazzling guitar coordination on this track brought the show to an astounding finish.

Of the guitarists, Strunz had the more aggressive style, filled with lightning-speed solos, whereas Farah was more melodic, playing in a manner reminiscent of Paco de Lucia. Though one doesn’t know whether it was done deliberately, the volume of Farah’s guitar seemed a bit lower.

For variety, there were excellent solos by flautist Rob Hardt, who also played the clarinet on a few songs, and percussionist Majeed Ghorbanian, who had a very unusual set-up that included a cajon, cymbals, a frame drum and chimes. The bassist, unfortunately, didn’t get too many exclusive parts, and simply played the role of an accompanist.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and a special treat for world music fans. Overall, Mumbai does not have too many concerts of major artistes in this category, and in the past two or three years, only the performance of African singer Angelique Kidjo and, of course, Toumani Diabate, come to mind.  Next week, the Idan Raichel Project from Israel will play at the Tata Theatre and that should also be worth checking out.

Indigo Live has promised to bring down at least two such acts every year. While that will surely expose Indian audiences to music from different geographical regions, one also wishes someone thinks of a full-fledged world music festival in Mumbai.

The city organises festivals in western classical, jazz, the blues, homegrown rock and various genres of Indian music, and a multi-artiste event featuring various global talents would be more than welcome. Is anybody listening?

When jazz greats came marching in

Clockwise from top-left: Duke Ellington,  Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong

JOURNALIST and writer Naresh Fernandes has done extensive research on the Bombay jazz scene that existed from the 30s to the 60s, documenting his findings in the book Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age. So when he sent a Facebook invitation to an audio-visual presentation on American jazz greats who visited the city some 50-odd years ago, the temptation to attend was hard to resist, even though it was Sunday siesta time.

Held at the mCubed library next to Bandra Gymkhana, the event was called Battleground Bombay: Hot Jazz and the Cold War. Through an audio-visual presentation, the focus was on how the US State Department used jazz as a weapon to try to win hearts and minds in Bombay in the 50s and 60s.

Now, a lot of people from my generation, born in the 60s, would have been exposed to foreign jazz bands primarily through the Jazz Yatra, which has, after being started in 1978, featured greats like Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Stephane Grappelli, Henry Threadgill, Illinois Jacquet, Charlie Byrd, Abdullah Ibrahim, Sadao Watanabe and a host of others. The enterprising Niranjan Jhaveri of Jazz-India had played a pioneering role in bringing these luminaries to India.

Naresh’s reference was, of course, to those who had come much earlier, when the Cold War between the US and Russia was at its peak, and the Americans had sought to use cultural diplomacy to attract people in different regions. And jazz, being the most important American genre at that time, found obvious favour.

Those days, some of the popular venues in Bombay were the Taj Mahal Hotel ball room, the now defunct Rang Bhavan and the earlier avatar of Shanmukhananda Hall. The three real legends to visit the city in that period were pianist Dave Brubeck, bandleader Duke Ellington and singer-trumpeter Louis Armstrong. In his presentation, Naresh also made references of trombonist Jack Teagarden and trumpeter Red Nichols.

Brubeck came here with his famed band, comprising alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello, in 1958. He didn’t remember much about his tour as such, but when Naresh interviewed him for his book, Brubeck recalled that his piano had got warped by the heat, and he found a replacement in a local music store (possibly Furtados). However, the new piano had to be carried to the venue at Eros theatre by porters who had to march in proper step to ensure that this one didn’t go wrong either.

On that visit, Brubeck also played at a local industrialist’s house, jamming with Indian percussionists and even with sitar maestro Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan (reference of which was made in my earlier blog ‘Instruments from India – 2/ Sitar’). He was reported to have quipped that everyone got so deeply fascinated by each other’s styles that either his band members would end up playing Indian music, or the Indian musicians would switch to jazz.

Brubeck used that visit as an inspiration to write some tunes on the album Jazz Impressions of Eurasia. And specially dedicated to our country was a piece called ‘Calcutta Blues’.

Interestingly, even the great Duke Ellington used his visit to India (Bombay, Madras, New Delhi) to dedicate tunes called ‘Bluebird of Delhi (Mynah)’ and ‘Agra’, which were featured on the album Far East Suite. His orchestra, which came here in 1963, included such master-musicians as pianist-arranger Billy Strayhorn, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves and trumpeter Cat Anderson.

On that visit, even the young, 18-year-old sarod player Amjad Ali Khan got a chance to play with Ellington, though the newspaper report erroneously described his instrument as a sitar.

As part of this US state department series, the iconic Louis Armstrong visited India the following year, 1964. His shows at the Rang Bhavan and Shanmukhananda were packed to capacity, and the songs ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’, ‘Saint Louis Blues’ and ‘Hello, Dolly!’ were received with tremendous applause.

Naresh concluded his session with a mention of the jazz opera The Real Ambassadors, featuring Brubeck, Armstrong, singer Carmen McCrae and others as a kind of spoof on the government’s policies. The song screened opened with the lines ‘Who’s the real ambassador?”

After these visits, the popularity of jazz came down, and the US State Department switched to soul and rhythm ‘n’ blues, even bringing the legendary singer Mahalia Jackson.

The session lasted an hour. And though one hoped he had extended it by half an hour and played more music by the featured artistes, Naresh came out with enough rare gems of trivia to keep everyone in rapt attention.

The good thing about such presentations is that they bring like-minded fans together. The jazz-listening community in Mumbai isn’t too large, and today’s youngsters who follow the genre are more into later styles like jazz-rock fusion and modern jazz. Though the older legends are recognised by their popular songs, events like these and artiste-specific listening sessions help people get deeper into the music, besides providing great nostalgia.

While regular concerts are one way to keep things alive and kicking, one would welcome more such presentations and listening sessions to jazz up the scene even more.