Waiting for GNR

ONE can almost visualise groups of youngsters in black T-shirts walking back towards their cars, humming ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ or playing air guitar to ‘November Rain’ around 10 pm the following Sunday, December 9. American hard rock monsters Guns N’ Roses would have just completed their gig at the MMRDA grounds, Mumbai, having done Bangalore on December 7, before heading to Gurgaon on December 12.

This would be the band’s first visit to India, a good quarter century after they hit the global rock headlines with their debut album Appetite For Destruction. While a section of people may complain that vocalist Axl Rose is the only surviving member from the original line-up, and that super-guitarist Slash won’t be here, this would surely be an experience of a lifetime for those who’ve grown up on GNR. And there are many of them.

What one will definitely get is a strong set-list. Besides the two songs mentioned above, GNR has a number of hits like ‘Paradise City’, ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, ‘Patience’, ‘Civil War’, ‘Don’t Cry’, ‘Mr Brownstone’, ‘You Could Be Mine’, ‘Chinese Democracy’, ‘Street of Dreams’ and even covers of Aerosmith’s ‘Mama Kin’, Nazareth’s ‘Hair of the Dog’, Paul McCartney & the Wings’ ‘Live and Let Die’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’. Assuming they’ll render most of these songs, we should have a rocking show.

One actually fails to understand this brouhaha about Slash’s absence. Obviously, those who’re using that as an excuse to stay away know little about the band, except for a couple of videos they’ve probably seen years ago, showing Slash in his trademark hat, face hidden by his hair, biceps bulging, tattoos showing, guitar dazzling and riffs overflowing.

Undoubtedly, Slash is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and was part of the group’s fame in the late 80s and early 90s, even visiting India alone for the MTV launch in Bangalore in 1996. But he left the group some 16 years ago, and has moved on with solo projects or new bands like Velvet Revolver. And though GNR had a long break through the mid-90s, they’ve been touring without Slash for almost 14 years, with Axl pretty much dominating the affairs.

If one looks at the history of rock, line-up changes have been part of many well-known groups, including Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson was out of Iron Maiden for nearly nine years, but the group went on till he returned in 1999. Roger Waters quit Pink Floyd in 1985, but the band continued, and Waters himself continued to do shows featuring Floyd songs. The guitarists of his band, including Snowy White and Doyle Bramhall II, continued to play riffs all of us identify with David Gilmour.

Take Deep Purple too. Ritchie Blackmore was the star guitarist of Deep Purple, and was in and out till he finally quit in 1993. After his departure, Steve Morse continued where he left off. Keyboardist Jon Lord gave a distinct sound to this group, but after he parted ways in 2002, the band had a replacement in Don Airey. Such examples abound, and just show that much as individual members have contributed to a band’s success, their departure does not stop the band from progressing further.

The same may be the case with GNR. The current line-up features, besides Axl Rose, guitarists DJ Ashba and Ron Thal, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman, bassist Tommy Stinson, rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus and drummer Frank Ferrer. Barring Ashba who joined in 2009, all members have been with the band for at least six years, with Dizzy Reed being around since the Use Your Illusion 1 album days in the early 90s.

Yes, a large number of fans will be more familiar with older GNR musicians like Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, rhythm guitarists Izzy Stradlin and Gilby Clarke, and drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum. But the good thing about the current line-up is that barring Axl and maybe Dizzy, one may not look at the others with much expectation. Because of this, it’s quite likely that a couple of them may spring a surprise.

Such a thing has happened in India quite a few times. When the Scorpions first came to Bangalore around 11 or 12 years ago, the known names were vocalist Klaus Meine, and guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs. But the man who was a total revelation was unheard-of young drummer James Kottak. Very recently, when Santana played in Bangalore, one was impressed by newer performers like keyboardist David Matthews, drummer Dennis Chambers (more known in the jazz field), percussionist Raul Rekow and trombonist Jeff Cressman, though most fans are more familiar with the older band members who played at Woodstock in 1969.

The great thing, of course, is that suddenly, a lot of rock bands are coming to India. Besides Santana and GNR this year, we’ve had Megadeth, Slayer and Korn doing open-air concerts, and Poets Of The Fall and Third Eye Blind doing the Hard Rock Café rounds. Last year, Metallica played in Bangalore, though their Gurgaon show was sadly cancelled at the last minute. Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Roger Waters, Jethro Tull, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Mark Knopfler, Elton John, Aerosmith, Joe Satriani, America, Machine Head, Saving Abel and INXS are among those who’ve played over the past decade. Over the next few months, more acts are reported to be in the offing, though details are awaited.

Mumbai, sadly, has a disadvantage in that the entertainment tax is pegged at a whopping 25 per cent, compared to 10 per cent in Bangalore and Gurgaon. That’s the main reason why most shows go to other cities, as things become more feasible for concert organisers. Hopefully, the Maharashtra state government will do something to bring more rock entertainment to the country’s entertainment capital by fixing a reasonable tax structure.

Finally, a few people may argue that many bands are coming to India well after they’ve past their prime, or that they’ve seen better shows in New York or London 20 years ago. But one must also consider the fact that the market in India has opened up considerably in the past few years, and it’s great to see all the great bands come one after the other. Axl Rose may have aged, like all musicians, but he’s still very much a rockstar.

Guns N’ Roses is being presented by Mooz Entertainment in Bangalore on December 7, Mumbai on December 9 and Gurgaon on December 12

A perfect tribute to the great Hindi film lyricists

BOOK REVIEW

Romancing The Song: Hindi Cinema’s Lyrical Journey

Author: Manek Premchand

Jharna Books; pp 654; Price: Rs 1,500

THE words have always mattered. In the world of Hindi film music, the lyricist has most often been an equal contributor. After all, hundreds of songs wouldn’t have been so sublime, if it wasn’t for the charm of their lines. Yet, barring a section of passionate and knowledgeable music lovers, the role of this community has largely been overlooked. In many cases, people know entire songs without knowing who penned them, and sometimes, music companies release compilations without mentioning the writers.

Lyrics, of course, have their own beauty and depth, and the great lyricists have been geniuses in their own ‘write’. Keeping this in mind, it would be essential for Hindi film music followers to read Manek Premchand’s latest book Romancing The Song: Hindi Cinema’s Lyrical Journey. It not only talks of the most talented songwriters to have graced Hindi film music, but makes a deep study of different themes under which songs have been written, and how songwriting has changed with time, keeping in mind the political, social and even technological scenario of the day.

On first reaction, it would be very obvious to state that Manek has done a great amount of research for this book. But honestly, what he’s written is the result of much, much, much more than pure research. He’s monitored songs of every era in elaborate detail, analysed the findings of his studies, offered his own explanations, and even compared how songwriters have approached similar subjects differently with their individual styles.

Besides being a consultant with Saregama India, show compere and radio personality, Manek has earlier written Yesterday’s Melodies, Today’s Memories, which profiled the best-known singers, composers and lyricists of the golden period till 1970, and Musical Moments from Hindi Films, which listed and described 435 of the greatest songs released in the genre. He’s worked on his latest book for around five years, and quite clearly, this is a labour of love and the result of enormous passion for and deep understanding of the subject.

In Romancing the Song, Manek divides the lyrical journey into four 20-year periods, beginning in 1931, when talking films were introduced in India. En route, he mentions numerous lyricists, their songwriting styles, words they loved to use, the composers and singers of the songs, the filmmakers who emphasised on meaningful music and even how certain subjects or themes were popular or fashionable during specific periods.

The 654-page book has a foreword by Gulzar, keynote by LK Advani, curtain-raiser by eminent radio personality Ameen Sayani and ‘Last Word’ by santoor maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma. The names of so many lyricists are mentioned that it is impossible for this blogger to include each and every one. But from the early era, we have Kidar Sharma, Agha Hashr Kashmiri, DN Madhok, Arzoo Lucknowi, Aah Sitapuri, J Nakhshab, PL Santoshi, GS Nepali and Zia Sarhadi, to name a few. The use of poetry by Ghalib and Meerabai is also considered.

They are followed by Shakeel Badayuni, Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra, Rajinder Krishan, Kaifi Azmi, Kavi Pradeep, Hasrat Jaipuri, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Qamar Jalalabadi, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Indeevar, Bharat Vyas, Asad Bhopali, Anand Bakshi, Naqsh Lyallpuri, SH Bihari, Prem Dhawan, Gulshan Bawra, Neeraj, Yogesh, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Nida Fazli, Amit Khanna, Shahryaar, Ravindra Jain and Anjaan, among others. Among today’s writers, the songs of Prasoon Joshi, Sameer, Irshad Kamil and Swanand Kirkire have been featured.

Short profiles of the lyricists have been reserved for the end of the book. Most chapters focus on specific themes, including songs from historical films, the steam engine, bird-related songs, shama-parwana, communal harmony, India’s independence, women-centric songs, use of English words, songs on the moon and sky, rain songs, festival songs, alcohol-related songs, the flower power era, the disco era, parody, cabaret songs, mujras, the arrival of obscene lyrics, the current trend of Punjabiyat, topori lingo, so on and so forth. Specific genres like ghazals and related forms like rubais, nazm and doteenya, qawwalis, devotional numbers and patriotic songs are covered in depth.

Besides the lyricists, songs of films by Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, BR Chopra, the Navketan banner, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Nasir Hussain and V Shantaram are covered extensively A glossary explaining meanings of commonly-used words is helpful.

From the above description, it is obvious how much detailing and hard work has gone into this book. From the reader’s perspective, however, a few additional points need to be mentioned.

• Though this book is broadly recommended for anybody who’s into Hindi film music, either deeply or in passing, three types of people should specifically benefit from it.

1. Musicians, comprising singers, composers and lyricists, who are especially interested in learning about the thought process, creativity, word-usage acumen and poetic skill that went behind the making of some classics. The younger generation of lyricists, in particular, will find a wealth of inspiration and motivation in these pages.
2. The hardcore music follower, who’s always in search of more information and trivia. Even the self-confessed music encyclopaedia will hopefully discover dozens of new things here and probably understand his favourite songs in a fresh perspective.
3. Those who are fond of the genre, but have limited knowledge of lyricists or even songs as such– those who know songs without knowing who wrote them, who know the tunes without knowing the words, or who know the mukhdas without knowing the antaras. With its relevant explanations and translations, this book may help enhance the knowledge of such people.

• Each person may have his or her favourite era of film music. So even though the book covers the entire 80-year span in detail, some readers may not be interested in the earliest phase, while others may detest songs from the past 20 years. As such, it might be worthwhile to go through the Table of Contents, and choose whatever would be of more interest.
• This blogger’s personal observation has been that a section of diehard music lovers, specially the extra-knowledgeable and passionate ones, also tend to be extremely opinionated and biased. They may find the work of some lyricists great, but in their opinion, some of the others are mediocre or over-rated. Naturally, such people think their view is correct. Since Manek’s approach towards each lyricist has been totally unbiased, and based on his contribution to cinema, it would be ideal if such readers keep an open mind, rather than let personal prejudice come in the way.
• While Manek has published the lyrics of so many songs of different time periods, one may tend to skip songs one hasn’t heard before. Obviously, if one knows the tune, he or she will be more interested in reading the lyrics. But at times, one can also discover some wonderful poetry even if one isn’t familiar with that song.  Maybe one can get to hear unknown yet beautiful songs that way.
•  Finally, one may always find personal favourites missing from the examples taken in this book. Personally, for instance, I wondered why ‘Kuch toh log kahenge’ wasn’t included, though three other songs from Amar Prem are mentioned. Ditto with ‘Main shaayar badnaam’ from Namak Haraam, ‘Aye meri zohra zabeen’ from Waqt, and the three Aandhi songs ‘Tere bina zindagi se’, ‘Tum aa gaye ho’ and ‘Is mod se jaate hain’. Similarly, when an entire chapter has been dedicated to train-based songs from the 1931-50 period, later super-hits on the same subject, like ‘Rail gaadi’ (Aashirwaad) and ‘Gaadi bula rahi hai’ (Dost), have been omitted.

All these songs were lyrical beauties, undoubtedly. But while each reader may have his or her own list of missing numbers, the truth is that it’s impossible to mention each and every great song, considering the volume of magnificent work released during the past 80s years. There’s always the case of the author’s perspective, and the fact that some outstandingly-written songs may not just fit into the flow of the book or theme of the chapter.

What Romancing The Song offers, in essence, is a truly in-depth analysis of how songs and their lyrics have changed over the years, and a remarkable study of the contributions of some of the greatest lyricists, many of whom haven’t received the plaudits they have always deserved. Clearly, this is one of the most comprehensive and captivating books on Hindi film music. It is not only a collector’s treasure, but something that can be repeatedly used for reference and knowledge enhancement. And yes, it should also act as an ‘ear’-opener to those listeners who haven’t given the lyricist his due recognition.

CD review/ Once More – Colonial Cousins

Once More/ Colonial Cousins

Genre: Indipop

Universal Music/ Rs 150

Rating: *** ½

Time is the healer, time moves on, Time don’t wait for anyone; You tell me you’ll be back, but that will take some time; I’m waiting, I’m waiting, I’m waiting, yeah, yeah…

AROUND 16 years ago, the Colonial Cousins sang these lines on ‘Krishna’, the masterpiece from their self-titled debut. The group, comprising Hariharan and Lesle Lewis, went on to release two more albums, The Way We Do It and Aatma, blending Indian and western elements in what was branded ‘vocal fusion’ or ‘eclectic Indipop’.

They took a long break from Hindi music thereafter and concentrated on individual projects and even Tamil films as a duo, though fans continued to sing ‘I’m waiting, I’m waiting’ in the hope that they’d return. A few months ago, Lesle released his solo Indipop album Tanha Sa Hoon (reviewed earlier in this blog) and now the Cousins are back after a 11-year hiatus, with a seven-song set called Once More.

Quite appropriately, they end the new album with ‘Radhe Govind Gopal’, a rejoinder to ‘Krishna’. After Hariharan renders a bhajan-styled line “Shree Radhe Govind Gopal tera pyaara naam hai,”  Lesle goes on to appeal to children to save the world they live in, as smooth guitars, a charming sitar and temple manjira play in the backdrop. Only, the definition of time changes from what we heard in ‘Krishna’. This time, the words are:

Times have changed, it ain’t so good; Everybody’s being misunderstood, misunderstood; Reach for your heart, search for the truth; We hide in disguise, losing our roots; Living in fear, living in fear

‘Radhe Govind Gopal’ is clearly one of the highlights of Once More. And while its style is very bhajan-pop, the other songs vary from north-eastern folk and hard rock-meets-Maharashtrian rhythms to ballads and tracks filled with classical wizardry. The lyrics credits are shared by Raajesh Johri, Kumaar and Lesle, and interestingly, the album uses English on only three songs, the emphasis being more on Hindi.

Of the songs, the opener ‘Aaiyo Re’, which uses north-east Indian folk elements, begins with a guitar-flute intro and then heralds the onset of the rains with the lines: “Aaiyo re aaiyo saawan aaiyo re; rimhim baarishon se bheega hai jahaan; kaisa matwala dekho mausam jawaan aaiyo re.” Strangely, the word is pronounced ‘sawan’ initially and ‘saawan’ later.  Catchy Assamese back-up vocals lend an earthy element.

‘Ma Ma Re, Ma Ma Re’ is a racy and smartly done mix of clubby chants, classical passages and English pop vocals. A female back-up goes ‘A-aaha ha’ Hariharan sings a neat sargam stretch, and Lesle follows up with the line: “Show me the way to follow you to your heart, I only want to be around you now.” Typical Cousins mix, with Hari excelling here.

The Cousins try to repeat the formula on the third track ‘Janaab-e-Ali’, but this is the only number which falls flat, thanks mainly to senseless lyrics like “Somebody tell me kahaan hai janaab-e-aali; Aadat purani hai dil ko churaane waali.” The song does have a wonderful ‘tutti’ portion, where the shehnai, flute and clarinet are played together to create a unique sound. But later on, they try to fill in too many things ― the words ‘Chunari sambhaal baby’ and a high-pitched classical passage come in from nowhere, leading to a mess.

The next song ‘Kaise Samjhayein’ gets even louder, but this time, things are in control, as Maharasthrian lezhim beats are played energetically to distortion-filled hard rock guitars, with both singing in Hindi: “Saari saari raat jaage, jiya beqarar laage, iss dil ko kaise samjhayein.”

Just when you think the entire album will follow a similar pattern, things slow down with ‘Tak Dhina Dhin’, which has the wonderful lines: “Raaton mein taaron se baatein karenge, agar ambar se jhilmil sitaron kahenge, tujhe dekha, tujhe dekha, tere dil se jo pyaar hua.” A short female back-up and a stylish guitar solo add charm.

‘Sajna ve’, which talks of lost love, is a melodious treat, as the lines ‘Sajna ve, sajna ve, tere liye main toh jee raha hoon” are played to a nylon-string guitar backdrop. The vocals touch the high notes beautifully, especially the words ‘sapnon’, ‘ashkon’,’duniya’ and ‘tanha’. This and ‘Radhe Govind Gopal’ give the album a perfect ending.

Though the Cousins are pretty much back in form, a couple of areas could have been looked into. One is the order of the songs. While the album definitely has variety in terms of style, the faster numbers dominate the first half and the soulful ones come later. If one of the slower songs had been placed earlier, there would have been a better balance, tempo-wise.

Secondly, with four songs sung in Hindi, there are portions where both Hariharan and Lesle render similar passages or even the same lines one after the other. While their timbres aren’t exactly similar, they aren’t totally contrasting either. Leslie sings in his pop style, using certain words in a more western manner, and Hariharan is rooted in classical music, down to the exact microtones. For the trained ear, one of the voices would sound more polished and flexible than the other, especially on ‘Aaiyo Re’ and ‘Tak Dhina Dhin’.

Finally, the album cover makes no mention of the instrumentalists and back-up singers at all. A wide variety of musicians has been used, and some have played important roles in the songs. Though one would assume Lesle has played most of the guitars, one would definitely like to know who else has played or sung on the album.

The flaws apart, this is definitely a timely comeback. Obviously, this may not be in the same league as the debut album, which had an absolutely new sound, and remains one of the best-ever releases in Indipop. A band like the Colonial Cousins will always have a set formula, and the only way they can keep producing good music is through the strength and variety of their compositions. Largely, they succeed in Once More.

RATING SCALE: * Poor; ** Average; *** Good; **** Excellent; ***** Simply outstanding

 

CD review/ Talaash; Music: Ram Sampath

Talaash/ Music: Ram Sampath

Genre: Hindi film music

T-Series/ Rs 175

Rating: *** 1/2

BEFORE he got into composing Hindi film music, Ram Sampath focused on ad jingles and also co-founded the band Colourblind in the late 90s. His cinema break came with the offbeat Indian English flick Let’s Talk in 2002. Ever since, he’s done a few movies like Khakee and Luv Ka The End, without hitting the big time till last year’s Delhi Belly.

Though the Delhi Belly score was known more for the controversial and bizarre lyrics of ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ and ‘Ja Chudail’, the music director got a good platform, beginning a collaboration with the film’s co-producer Aamir Khan. Next came Aamir’s TV show Satyamev Jayate, and Ram became pretty well-known.

Now, with Reema Kagti’s Talaash, Ram gets another chance to work with Aamir, who’s acted in and co-produced the film. The movie has five songs and one remix, and the heartening things are that the tunes stay away from the Delhi Belly formula, employ the lyrical talents of Javed Akhtar, and show a fair amount of variety.

Like in Delhi Belly and Luv Ka The End, Ram doesn’t opt for mainstream singers in Talaash, and in fact, sings two songs himself. The focus these days, of course, has been the rather unusual and distinct voice of Suman Sridhar, who renders the opener ‘Muskaanein Jhoothi Hai’ picturised on Kareena Kapoor.

Suman had earlier rendered ‘Tonight’ in Luv Ka The End, but is otherwise known for her massacred remixes of classics like ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’, ‘Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho’ and ‘Hawa Hawaii’. Luckily, with originals, one doesn’t get into those comparisons, but though her timbre has oomph, her enunciation is awry, and she tends to lisp and sound forced at times. Yet, despite its technical singing drawbacks, the song is lifted by its bar-room jazz feel, a marvellous double bass, catchy back-up vocals and lines that go “Muskaanein jhooti hain, pehchaanein jhooti hai, rangeeni hai chaayi, phir bhi hai tanhaiyee.”

‘Jee Le Zaraa’ is rendered by Vishal Dadlani, known more as vocalist of the rock Pentagram and as one half of the music director duo Vishal-Shekhar. His voice texture sounds a bit too heavy and gruff here, but he pulls it off with some controlled singing. Interestingly, the tunehas a very fleeting resemblance to a portion from the Musafir song ‘Rabba’, which Vishal-Shekhar composed. The song also comes in a faster, dance-friendly version remixed by Mikey McLeary.

Song No 3, ‘Jiyaa Laage Na’, is a beauty. With a semi-classical thumri vocal style and a peppy rhythm, it grows on repeated listening, with singers Sona Mohapatra and Ravindra Upadhyay complementing each other perfectly, and executing the nuances neatly. The lyrics contain gems like ‘O.. main anjaani, hoon woh kahaani, hogi jo na poori; O.. paas aaoge, toh paaoge, phit bhi hai ek doori’.

The next two numbers are sung by Ram himself, and they’re both stylistically different. ‘Hona Kya Hai’ is upbeat and has some snazzy keyboards and techno interludes, though the main line has a tune that’s somewhat reminiscent of the ‘Shaan se’ part of the old song ‘Doston se pyaar kiya’, albeit in a lower pitch. Whatever, the song is perfect for the club circuit.

Ram’s ‘Laakh Duniya Kahe’ is a moving and smoothly-arranged ballad with the wonderful lines “Tumne chhoda hai kab saath mera, thaamey ho aaj bhi haath mera, koi manzil, koi rehguzar ho, aaj bhi tum mere humsafar ho, jaaoon chaahe jahaan tum wahin ho.” Here too, the voice seems to be under stress on the high notes, especially while singing the words ‘manzil’ and ‘gaaye’, and the chorus drags. But it’s a beautiful tune which haunts you, even though one feels a little more ‘taiyyari’ and vocal robustness was needed in its rendition.

The flaws notwithstanding, ‘Talaash’ is impressive overall, moreso because it’s got a sound of its own. Obviously, this is a high point for Ram, who has so far not been too prolific in terms of number of releases, but who’s got a few good breaks over the past year or so. However, though he’s got a good mentor in Aamir Khan, one hopes he diversifies and works with other filmmakers too. That’ll give him wider exposure and experience.

RATING SCALE: * Poor; ** Average; *** Good; **** Excellent; ***** Classic

 

Instruments from India – 3/ Bamboo flute

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 two parts of the series talked about the violin and sitar, respectively. This month, we feature the bansuri and other bamboo flutes used in India.

LIKE the violin, the flute has been used in various musical cultures across the world, and is also known to be the earliest musical instrument ever. However, while musicians from the West largely use a metal flute, their Indian counterparts play the bamboo flute, commonly known as the bansuri in north India, and venu in the south.

India is not the only country to specialise in bamboo flutes, as one finds different varieties in other Asian countries, especially in China, Japan, Korea and certain Far Eastern regions. In India, however, the flute has a religious significance, as it’s associated with Lord Krishna, who was known to play three varieties – venu, murali and vamsi. It was even seen in Buddhist paintings of the 1^st century.

The bamboo flute is used in both north Indian Hindustani music and Carnatic music from the south. The length of flutes varies between the 12-inch (or lower) murali to the 40-inch shankhbansuri, though many musicians prefer it to be about 20 inches. They could have between six or eight holes.

Among today’s musicians, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia (picture on left) is the best-known Hindustani exponent, whereas N Ramani (picture on right) leads the Carnatic list. The instrument also finds extensive use in folk music, film music, fusion, devotional music and classical dance. Let’s look at each genre:

Hindustani music: The word bansuri is a combination of bans (bamboo) and sur (melody). Like the sitar and other Hindustani instruments, the bansuri is primarily played by a solo artiste, with accompaniment from the tabla (or in some cases, the pakhawaj drum) and from the stringed drone instrument tanpura. At times, it is also used as a duet (called jugalbandi) with other instruments.

A concert 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/ pakhawaj 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, and while the flautist demonstrates his skill here, the tabla/ pakhawaj player also plays certain brisk passages, much to the audience’s delight.

Once this first raga is over, the flautist may play another raag, or may play certain light ragas, folk tunes or devotional pieces, depending on the time allotted. Hindustani flautists usually prefer raags Pahadi and Bhairavi to conclude their shows, and use smaller flutes for folk compositions. The bansuri is also used as an accompaniment in lighter classical vocal forms like the thumri, dadra and hori.

Among performers, though Chaurasia is extremely popular among today’s audiences, it was actually Pt Pannalal Ghosh who elevated the status of the flute from a folk instrument into a classical one, before he passed away in 1960. Other renowned bansuri exponents from the earlier generation have been Raghunath Prasanna of Benaras, Vijay Raghav Rao, a disciple of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, and Devendra Murdeshwar and Niranjan Halidpur, both students of Ghosh.

Chaurasia’s rise to fame happened from the mid-60s onwards, and remains undiminished to this day. Another popular contemporary is Pandit Raghunath Seth, who learnt from vocalist S N Ratanjankar and Pannalal Ghosh.  Flautists from a slightly younger batch include Ronu Majumdar, Pravin Godkhindi, Raghunath Prasanna’s son Rajendra Prasanna, Sunil Kant Gupta and Nityanand Haldipur, who is a disciple of surbahar exponent Annapurna Devi. Among Chaurasia’s students, Rakesh Chaurasia (his nephew), Rajendra Teredesai, Rupak Kulkarni and Vivek Sonar have been prolific. Foreigners like Steve Gorn have also taken to the bansuri.

The best-known jugalbandi combination is Chaurasia with santoor monarch Shivkumar Sharma. In 1966-67, the two of them were joined by Hindustani guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra on the album ‘Call of the Valley’, and many years later, they released ‘The Valley Recalls’ as a duo. Besides them, there have been duets like Ronu Majumdar with santoor player Satish Vyas, and Sonar with sitar exponent Chirag Katti.

These apart, Chaurasia has collaborated with Hindustani vocalist Kishori Amonkar and Carnatic vocalist Balamuralikrishna to produce some divine music. Among the north-south jugalbandis, mention must also be made of the partnership between Godkhindi and Carnatic saxophone player Kadri Gopalnath, both in live performances and on the albums Raag Rang and Yatra.

Carnatic music: As compared to the violin and veena, the flute or venu finds lesser usage in Carnatic music. However, flautists like Sarabha Sastri, Palladam Sanjiva Rao, H Ramchandra Shastri, TR Mahalingam and N Ramani helped create an audience for the instrument in Carnatic music.

Though the flute was played for years in south India, the first person to bring it into the actual Carnatic music format was Sarabha Sastri in the late 19^th century. However, it was Mahalingam (also known as ‘Mali’) who brought in a new technique which was instantly accepted. His disciples K S Narayanan and N Ramani took the tradition further, with the latter playing a huge role in elevating its status in Carnatic music, emphasising on the vocal style of playing.

Other practitioners of the Carnatic flute have included the Sikkil sisters Kunjumani and Neela, whose daughter Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar also played the instrument, and K Bhaskaran. The youngsters include Naveen Kumar and the genius Shashank Subramanyam. Yet, though the instrument is admired for its melodic quality, fewer newcomers are getting into the field as compared to other Carnatic instruments.

Hindi film music: Both the bansuri and metal flute have been used in film music from across India. Among the Hindi film songs, some stand out.

The most common example of a flute solo is the theme music from the 1983 film Hero, picturised on Jackie Shroff. The tune was recreated in a faster way by DJ Nasha on ‘Flute Fantasy’.

Within songs, the flute has been used for years, one of the early examples being ‘Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki’ by music director Naushad in the 1949 film Dulari. Other well-known examples are ‘Mohe panghat pe’ (Mughal-e-Azam), ‘Pyaar hua ikrar hua’ (Shree 420), ‘Suno sajna papihe ne’ (Aaye Din Bahar Ke), ‘Chingari koi bhadke’ and ‘Raina beet jaaye’ (Amar Prem), ‘Khaali haath shaam aayi hai’ (Ijaazat) and ‘Neela aasmaan so gaya’ (Silsila). The last one was composed by Shiv-Hari or Shivkumar Sharma-Hariprasad Chaurasia, who used both the santoor and bansuri extensively.

Rahman has used the flute in the Lagaan song ‘Radha kaise na jale’ and more recently in ‘Saans’ from Jab Tak Hai Jaan, where Naveen Kumar has played a smaller folk version.

Talking of bansuri players in Hindi films, Chaurasia has worked with other composers before Shiv-Hari worked together in movies. Manohari Singh, primarily a saxophone player, also played the flute brilliantly, more so with R D Burman. And talking of RD, one of the most gorgeous flute compisitions is found in his Bengali song ‘Phire eso Anuradha’.

As a music director, Raghunath Seth scored for the films Ek Baar Phir, Yeh Nazdeekiyan, Damul and Mrityudand, where he made prominent use of the bansuri. Today, Ronu Majumdar, Rakesh Chaurasia and Naveen Kumar play bansuri in many film songs and Indipop albums.

Talking about films, the bansuri plays a very prominent role in Ang Lee’s Hollywood movie Life of Pi, which has music by Mychael Danna. A Sony Music source confirms that the flute has been played by Jatinder Jeetu, who’s not known at all, but has done an outstanding job.

Experimental music and fusion: Because of the beauty of its tone and improvisational quality, the bansuri finds an easy place in the world of fusion. Back in 1986, Chaurasia teamed up with tabla wizard Zakir Hussain, guitarist John McLaughlin and saxophonist Jan Garbarek on the album ‘Making Music’. In the late 90s, he joined Zakir, McLaughlin and ghatam player Vikku Vinayakram on the group Remember Shakti, whose live performances were released on the album ‘Music Without Boundaries’.

Vijay Raghav Rao released a fairly path-breaking album called ‘Destiny: A Symphonic Fable’, which was basically an orchestral album but used heavy doses of both the bansuri and western-styled flutes. Ronu Majumdar has done a fair amount of fusion work, including his album ‘Moonlight Whispers’ with jazz guitarist Larry Coryell.

Among the bands, Mumbai-based fusion group Filter Coffee has flautist Shriram Sampat in its line-up. The bansuri has attracted foreign musicians too, examples being Prem Joshua, who also plays sitar and saxophone. Closer home, Nepali bansuri player Manose has done some experimental work on the album ‘Epiphany’ and on recordings with new age spiritual singer Deva Premal. In Pakistan, the popular Mekaal Hasan Band has a fantastic flautist in Mohammad Ahsan Papu.

(This was written much later: In October 2013, flautist Rajeev Raja released his album ‘Cosmic Chant’, using both western concert flute and bansuri). He played with his band Rajeev Raja Combine.)

Folk, ghazals, devotional music and dance: Needless to say, the bansuri is played in many forms of north Indian folk music. It has also been used as an accompaniment on many ghazals, especially by Jagjit Singh and Pankaj Udhas.

In devotional music, many songs on Lord Krishna use the bansuri. These include Meera bhajans and even dance recitals based on Jayadev’s 12^th century composition Gita Govinda. With its devotional nature, the instrument finds a place in the backdrop of many Indian classical dances.

The beauty of the Indian bamboo flute lies in the sheer purity of its sound and ability to relax minds. Whichever genre it is used in, it sounds like magic to the ears.

For Your Ears Only: The music of James Bond revisited

This is the end
Hold your breath and count to ten
Feel the earth move and then
Hear my heart burst again

ADELE’S mesmerising voice fills the air the moment the train-top action sequence concludes in the latest James Bond movie ‘Skyfall’, and the credits are shown against an underwater scene. For the British singer, the entry into the prestigious James Bond club is another feather in the cap, after the string of Grammys she won earlier this year for her album ‘21’.

Musically, Bond has always been beautiful. Over the past 50 years, ever since ‘Dr No’ was released in 1962, the soundtrack has played an extremely important role in James Bond movies, with film enthusiasts following the score as much as the action scenes and cinematography, other essential ingredients of the brand. While the ‘James Bond Theme’ is one of the most recognised pieces of film music ever, the choice of the title track’s singer has also been a subject of much discussion, especially since Shirley Bassey rendered the marvellous ‘Goldfinger’ back in 1964.

Here, let’s talk of the film scores first, and then discuss the songs.

The extra-popular ‘James Bond Theme’ was written by Monty Norman for ‘Dr No’, though a controversy arose when John Barry, who led the orchestra in that film and composed several subsequent themes, claimed it was his score. In fact, Barry has composed the soundtrack for nine of the 23 Bond films, followed by David Arnold, with five newer ones.

Other well-known film composers to wield the Bond baton include Marvin Hamlisch (‘The Spy Who Loved Me’) and Michael Kamen (‘Licensed to Kill’). In ‘Skyfall’, director Sam Mendes, working on his first Bond movie, stuck to close associate Thomas Newman, who composed music in his earlier ventures ‘American Beauty’, ‘The Road to Perdition’ and ‘Revolutionary Road’.

The music in Bond movies is very situational, and often captures the mood of the moment perfectly. For each composer ― and there have been quite a few ― the challenge is to sound absolutely fresh with each film, and yet retain the basic theme as often as possible.

Various people have re-arranged Bond tunes for commercial release. Recently, EMI Music has put out a collection of original pieces to mark 50 years of the brand. And if you’re looking for an absolutely amazing compilation, check out a CD called ‘The Very Best of James Bond Themes’, played to exceptional arrangements and superb jazz improvisations  by the Undercover Agents Orchestra. A very rare CD, and if you find it, you’ll be lucky.

While most new Bond themes have retained elements of the original piece, the title songs are as varied as can be, ranging from soulful balladry to rocking grunge to synthesiser-driven pop. Welsh diva Shirley Bassey has done the most songs – besides ‘Goldfinger’, she had the unforgettable ‘Diamonds are Forever’ and ‘Moonraker’.

Interestingly, a large number of title songs have been sung by women. Popular ones are Nancy Sinatra (‘You Only Live Twice’), Carly Simon (‘Nobody Does it Better’ in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’), Tina Turner (‘Golden Eye’, interestingly written by Bono and The Edge of U2) and Sheena Easton (‘For Your Eyes Only’) Others are by Rita Coolidge (‘All Time High’ in ‘Octopussy’), Lulu (‘The Man With The Golden Gun’), Madonna (‘Die Another Day’), Gladys Knight (‘Licensed to Kill’), Lani Hall (‘Never Say Never Again’) and Sheryl Crow (‘Tomorrow Never Dies’).

The men singing Bond title songs include Matt Monro (who was superb in ‘From Russia with Love’, effortlessly hitting the high notes towards the end), the versatile Tom Jones (‘Thunderball’) and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell (who gives a grunge feel to ‘You Know My Name’ in ‘Casino Royale’). Jazz legend Louis Armstrong sang the secondary tune ‘We Have All The Time in the World’ in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. And of course, Paul McCartney was joined by his band Wings on ‘Live And Let Die’, where the music was composed by Beatles associate George Martin.

The Bond catalogue has also heard some unusual renditions, which foray into experimental territory. The duet by Jack White and Alicia Keys in the ‘Quantum Of Solace’ song ‘Another Way to Die’, and British new wave band Duran Duran’s ‘A View to A Kill’ were totally different from most songs from the genre. Norwegian duo A-ha did a synth-pop piece in ‘The Living Daylights’, whereas alternative rock band Garbage came up with the neatly orchestrated ‘The World is Not Enough’.

Another lesser-noticed characteristic of James Bond music is the tendency of composers to use tunes written by others. Besides western classical composers Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky and Chopin, Bond movies of the past have included popular themes from other films like ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Dr Zhivago’. In ‘Skyfall’, the climax features an extract of the Animals’ 60s version of John Lee Hooker’s ‘Boom Boom’.

In the end, while the signature theme remains an eternal favourite, which Bond song has been the most popular?

General belief would hint at Bassey’s ‘Goldfinger’ or ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, but a BBC Radio poll conducted a couple of months ago sprung a surprise by declaring Paul McCartney and the Wings’ ‘Live and Let Die’ as the winner,  followed by Carly Simon’s ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ song at second spot, with  ‘Goldfinger’ strangely making it to No 3.

‘Goldfinger’, of course, is currently leading a poll conducted by The Telegraph London website, garnering 21 per cent of the votes, much ahead of Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ ― No 2 at 13 per cent ― and A-ha’s ‘The Living Daylights ― third at 12.5 per cent. This survey, however, gives participants an option of only 11 songs.

The poll results may not really matter, as each person would have his or her own favourite, and answers would also depend on the age profile of the participants. What’s consistent is the quality of the Bond songs, even though the styles of various performers have differed vastly.

So while we celebrate 50 years of this magnificent music, let’s again soak in Adele’s voice, which is the flavour of the season.

Let the sky fall, when it crumbles
We will stand tall
And face it all together
Let the sky fall, when it crumbles

Take Five: Gems from the British alternative scene

This article begins a new series, ‘Take Five’, recommending five albums or artistes from various genres of international music. The series will be carried once every two months, and this time, we shall talk of British alternative/ indie albums released in 2012

WHEN it comes to new sounds, the alternative/ indie genre is surely bubbling with innovation. If heavy metal, thrash, punk and rap-rock largely stick to a specific formula, musicians creating ‘non-metal modern rock’ often blend influences as diverse as psychedelic, progressive, folk, electronica and symphonic music to create their own unique sound.

While both the US and the UK have led the way in the alternative scene, 2012 has arguably belonged to the Britishers. Yes, the Americans have produced gems like ‘Some Nights’ by Fun (reviewed earlier in this blog) and ‘Blunderbuss’ by Jack White (very innovative mix of garage rock, blues and folk), but England is obviously brimming with such acts.

Here, we take a look at five such albums released this year. Some are by relatively older acts which have been around for a decade or more, and some are by debutants. None of these albums would have achieved whopping commercial success, but musically, the quality is just up there. What’s remarkable, of course, is that all of them sound totally different, and despite some obvious influences, have a style of their own.

In no specific order, you could check out:

Richard Hawley/ Standing at the Sky’s Edge: The Sheffield-born singer-songwriter-guitarist has been on the scene for a decade now. He’s had a following of his own, mainly for the rich timbre of his voice. But while earlier albums like ‘Coles Corner’ and ‘Truelove’s Gutter’ boasted of brooding ballads straight out of the Frank Sinatra and Roy Orbison style sheets, his latest venture is a trippy diversification into space rock territory.

Wailing distortion-filled psychedelic guitars and effortless rock-friendly vocals characterise this nine-song effort. The opener ‘She Brings The Sunlight’ begins with Indian-styled strings but soon settles into screaming riffs. The title track, which begins with the lines “Joseph was a good man though he killed his wife,” sees Hawley in prime vocal form.

Every other track is a gem, but personal favourites are ‘Down in the Woods’, which has traces of Jesus & Mary Chain, and the mellowed-down and moody ‘Don’t Stare at the Sun’. The final number ‘Before’ starts in a balladsy mood (check the way he sings “It won’t be me who closes the door”) before marvellously picking up tempo, to bring an energetic climax to an absolutely first-rate album.

Alt-J/ An Awesome Wave: Alt J was somewhat rejected by the media till it won the coveted Mercury Prize last week. This Brit indie-pop quartet combines the individual talents of guitarist/ bassist Gwil Sainsbury, keyboardist  Gus Unger-Hamilton and drummer Thom Green to create a heady mix, but it’s vocalist Joe Newman’s distinct vocals that give the sound an edge.

The sound is a smooth cocktail of elements ranging from alternative pop, hip-hop, trip-hop, folk and synthesiser-driven rock. The instant charmer here is ‘Breezeblocks’, with its infectious vocals, strong bassline and neat choruses. Other stand-out tracks include ‘Tesselate’, with its electronica flavour, ‘Something Good’, with its consistent drum beat and groovy synths, and ‘Taro’, which has incredible vocals and melodic orchestrations at the end.

The album may take a while to grow on you, but turns out to be one of the freshest sounds of the year. A well-deserved Mercury.

Spritualized/ Sweet Heart Sweet Light: Fronted by Jason Pierce, Warwickshire outfit Spiritualized isn’t new in the business. In fact, it has been around since the early 90s, and ‘Sweet Heart Sweet Light’ is its seventh studio album, coming after acclaimed efforts like 1997’s ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space’ and 2001’s ‘Let It Come Down’.

The group’s sound is characterised by repeated vocal lines and choruses set against neo-psychedelic sonic structures. The new album has a very offbeat cover which just says ‘Huh?’ One of the highlights is the nine-minute ‘Hey Jane’, also known for its provocative and ultra-violent video revolving around a transvestite. ‘Little Girl’ slows down the tempo, with philosophical lines like “Sometimes I wish that I was dead, ‘cause only living can feel the pain; sometimes I wish that I could fly; you get so grounded that life will pass you by.”

Also worth checking out are the haunting ballad ‘Freedom’, which has the lines “Freedom is your if you want it”, and ‘I Am What I Am’, which blends strong lead vocals with crisp female back-up lines. Finally, ‘So Long You Pretty Thing’ builds up in a very ‘Hey Jude’ manner, complete with the incessant choruses at the end.

One of Spiritualized’s biggest strengths is its lyrics. And aided by a versatile set of songs, they have a winner here.

Django Django/ Self-titled album: The psychedelic quartet, which met at art school in Edinburgh, has recently released its self-titled debut. It won a Mercury Prize nomination, but lost out to Alt-J.

Consisting of drummer-producer David Maclean, singer-guitarist Vincent Neff, bassist Jimmy Dixon and synth-man Tommy Grace, the band relies on vibrant drumming and spacey synthesisers, aided by melodic and charming vocals. Some of the numbers have a dance feel too, broadening their appeal. And if you’re looking at influences, you’ll find a bit of Kraftwerk electronic pop and the Beach Boys’ surf-rock here, mixed with a contemporary club feel.

Adrenalin-filled tracks like ‘Waveforms’ and ‘Default’ were popular even before the album was released in January, but each of the 13 tracks has a certain vibrancy. ‘Zumm Zumm’ begins with the lines ‘Got to get to know… know you’ against strong synthesisers and rhythms, and ‘Wor’ kicks off with a wailing siren against a thumping drum-‘n’-bass line.

‘Life is a Beach’ has an incredible guitar line and snazzy vocals. ‘Firewater’ has a stunning bass backdrop, and vocalist Neff is on great form on ‘Storm’ and ‘Hail Bop’. Finally, the Middle Eastern ambience ‘Skies Over Cairo’ is something to die for. The kind of stuff you can play all day.

Muse/ The 2^nd Law: What an album, really! Devon-based Muse is another band which has been on the scene for a while, earlier impressing on the album ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ and ‘The Resistance’. Their latest ‘The 2^nd Law’ again sees them at their versatile best, blending alternative rock, space rock, prog-metal, electronica and even strains of symphonic music.

Matthew Bellamy is simply outstanding on vocals, guitars and keyboards-synthesisers, and he’s ably assisted by bassist Christopher Walsteinholme and drummer Dominic Howard. The rhythmic ‘Supremacy’, the freaky ‘Madness’ and the marvellously constructed and chorus-heavy ‘Survivors’ are among the highlights. The two-part epic ‘The 2^nd Law: Unsustainable’ and ‘The 2^nd Law: Isolated System’ boast of incredible keyboards and conversational dialogues.

The picks of the lot are ‘Animals’, with its tuneful guitar-drum interaction, and ‘Explorers’, with its outstanding vocals and Beatles-ish influence. They are just among the best songs created this year, proving Muse is here to stay.

All five bands are worth checking out. Press play!

Recommending the late genius Terry Callier

SUNDAY, October 28, was a rather sad day for American music, with news that Terry Callier had passed away. Now, a lot of people ― specially in India ― may not have heard him, unless they’ve caught some of his later work that did the rounds on the London underground scene from the late 90s onwards. So for those who’ve missed his brilliance, let’s begin with a few basic introductions.

To start with, Callier was a Chicago-bred soul singer-songwriter-guitarist whose music also embraced the jazz, blues and folk spectrums. Secondly, he was rather under-rated, probably because he never got into marketing himself. Thirdly, after doing a string of albums in the 70s, he gave up music for nearly 18 years to study and pursue computer programming and look after his family, only return by guesting with acts like Massive Attack, Beth Orton, Paul Weller and Koop.

The most important thing about him, of course, is that he possessed one of the most haunting and soulful voices, something that gripped you with its sheer panache, perfection and phrasing. Even in terms of lyrics, the songs were way above par, dealing with romance, peace, unity and even revolt. A true musician, in every sense.

If one has to really get onto Callier’s music, where does one begin? Sadly, one may not find his records in Indian stores. Luckily, YouTube contains a wealth of his material. One can spend hours admiring him.

The trick, of course, is to start with the right songs. And here, we’d like to recommend them, based on your age. The reason is that Callier had two distinct sets of audiences ― one which was exposed to his earlier soul and folk songs, and the other which heard him in collaboration with modern-day trip-hop, electronica and club artistes.

So if you’re over 35, the best bet would be to begin with ‘What Color Is Love’, a breathtakingly beautiful and charmingly-orchestrated love song. Check out the lines: “Is it wrong or is it right, is it black or is it white, what color is love?” You could follow that up with ‘Dancing Girl’, a nine-minute romantic masterpiece which travels in different tempi, beginning with the lines “I saw a dream last night, bright as a falling star.”

Then, you could get into the blues-rock beauty of ‘You Goin’ to Miss Your Candyman’, with its smooth guitars and keyboards.  Up next could be his version of the Beatles’ ‘And I Love Her’, followed by blues ballads ‘Blues for Billie Holiday’ and ‘Paris Blues’, and the Bob Dylan-styled protest classic ‘Fix the Blame’. These songs are good enough to get you hooked.

Now, if you’re under 35, the ideal recommendations would be ‘Live With Me’, with British trip-hop group Massive Attack, and ‘Lean On Me’ with Brit ‘folktronica’ singer Beth Orton. Other beginners would include the peppy ‘In a Heartbeat’ with Swedish electronic jazz duo Koop, and the wonderfully-written and moving ‘Brother to Brother’, with well-known 90s singer-songwriter Paul Weller. London club favourites 4Hero have used his voice on their mixes of ‘The Day of the Greys’ and the mood-enhancing ‘Love Theme from Spartacus’.

Having gone through the basics, whichever age you are, you can try some of his other gems. There are the funk-driven ‘Sign of the Times’, the beautifully-rendered ‘Butterfly’, the very old folk-blues  songs ‘Work Song’, ‘I’m a Drifter’ and ‘Be My Woman’, one of his late 90s songs ‘Time Peace’, the saxophone-driven ‘Nobody But Yourself To Blame’, the jazz piece ‘Tokyo Moon’, the club-friendly ‘Wings’ and all-time favourites like ‘Ordinary Joe’, ‘Jazz My Rhythm N’ Blues’, ‘Spin Spin Spin’, ‘Lazarus Man’ and ‘900 Miles’. Many, many more.

Callier had once rendered a jazz-soul song called ‘When The Music is Gone’, which talks of how life would be without music. The lyrics go: “What can we lean on when the music is gone, I don’t know… The song will be truth, peace, freedom and justice, the song will be love… What can we depend on when the music is gone, we don’t know, so we can’t let it die.”

What an apt way to sum up your own approach to life, Terry Callier. Hope your music spreads as far and wide as it deserves to.

The magical Santana experience

THE excitement actually began around three weeks ago, when I first heard that Carlos Santana would be playing in Bangalore on October 26. Instantly, I decided to make the trip from Mumbai, and kept myself in a Santana mood by changing one of my passwords to something connected, posting a daily dose of trivia on Facebook, listening to some of the old classics on CD, discovering live footage on YouTube, and preparing my own list of songs I wanted him to play. Fans can be crazy, and I’m no exception.

Obviously, I was looking forward to a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and joining me on this Santana pilgrimage were my music-loving buddies Raj Zaveri and Navin Salian. A few other friends like Bobin James and Zameer Vahanvaty had come down from Mumbai too, and before the show, Raj and I were keenly hoping against hope that he’d play one of our favourite pieces ‘Oneness’.

As expected, Santana didn’t play ‘Oneness’, but we had no reason to complain. He and his entire band took the stage at the Vladivar Rock n’ India event at 6.55 pm, a few minutes after Indus Creed concluded their opening act, mostly consisting of songs from their new album ‘Evolve’. Suddenly, we saw the guitar god up there, dressed in white with some colourful designs on his shirt and his trademark hat, playing his PRS Santana signature guitar to the accompaniment of a thousand drum beats, Benny Reitveid’s thumping bassline and David Matthews’ wailing keyboards.

What song would he play next? That was the question we kept asking for the next two hours.

Rock concert set lists are understandably very tough to prepare, especially when the musician has been playing for well over four decades and has a string of hits. It’s difficult to please everybody in the audience. The older fans wouldn’t want to miss any of their ancient favourites. The younger crowd would want something more recent, video-familiar and Grammy-ish. And Santana would have himself wanted to promote his latest instrumental album ‘Shape Shifter’, though he surprisingly decided to skip that totally.

We knew Santana would play many of the classics, but curiously enough, he began with a few lesser-known numbers. A short musical dedication called ‘Stopover in Bangalore’ (the same tune might be changing its name in every city) was followed by ‘(Da Le) Yaleo’, the opening song from his 1999 album ‘Supernatural’. Vocalists Tony Lindsay and Andy Vargas added to the festive atmosphere, and Jeff Cressman came up with a trombone solo that took the energy levels to another planet. The ultra-talented drummer Dennis Chambers, percussionist Karl Perazzo, conga wizard Raul Rekow, rhythm guitarist Thomas Maestu and trumpeter Bill Ortiz partied along. Gooseflesh!

Song number three, and the crowd screamed in instant delight, as Santana began the opening bars of ‘Black Magic Woman/ Gypsy Queen’, one of his biggest hits from the 1970 album ‘Abraxas’. Honestly though, this wasn’t one of the high points of the evening, as the Peter Green/ Gabor Zsabo medley composition was marred by vocals that didn’t seem quite there. Maybe we are so used to hearing the age-old version sung by Gregg Rolie, that any other timbre sounded odd. Never mind, the majority loved it.

Bang came ‘Oye Como Va’, originally written by Tito Puente and set to a Latino-salsa-jazz-rock flavour by Santana on ‘Abraxas’. And to woo the youngsters, Santana next chose the more poppish ‘Maria Maria’, originally played with The Product G&B in ‘Supernatural’. Also on the newer side was ‘Foo Foo’ from the 2002 album ‘Shaman’, with its infectious dance beat, Latin American chants, and melodic trumpet and trombone.

The all-time instrumental favourite ‘Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile’) from the 1976 album ‘Amigos’ was played marvellously for a few minutes, really giving everyone a high. Then shockingly, Santana decided to leave out the famous ending riff, much to the disappointment of those who’ve grown up on that song.

Just as we were wondering what on earth and heaven happened there, Santana brought in a change in drummer, calling his second wife Cindy Blackman for a guest appearance. She played on the ‘Supernatural’ song ‘Corazon Espinado’, which suddenly moved into a very short extract from the 1971 masterpiece ‘Guajira’ from ‘Santana III’, and followed up with a pounding seven-minute drum solo.

Even before the applause died down, Dennis Chambers was back on drums, joined by congas and trademark guitar lines as the famous Babatunde Olatunde composition ‘Jingo’ rent the air. One of the classics from Santana’s 1969 debut album, this was definitely one of the evening’s highlights, and was soon followed by a string of early hits ― ‘No One to Depend On’ (from ‘Santana III’), the Clarence Henry-written ‘Evil Ways’ (debut album), the guitar-led instrumental beauty ‘Samba Pa Ti’ (‘Abraxas’) and the percussion-keyboard-guitar-bass stunner ‘Se A Cabo’ (written by conga genius Jose ‘Chepito’ Areas in ‘Abraxas’).

What was surprising, however, was the inclusion of the version of jazz legend John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’, which he’d played with guitarist John McLaughlin in the 1973 project ‘Love Devotion Surrender’. Not one of his well-known numbers. Somewhere in between, Santana took the names of musical greats John Lennon, the Beatles, Bob Marley, Coltrane and Ravi Shankar, and then dived into a peace and unity speech probably inspired by his former spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy. Only problem was that it was a bit too long.

‘Smooth’, the song which bagged Santana a truckload of Grammys in ‘Supernatural’, had to be there. And though original vocalist Rob Thomas was missing, Lindsay and Vargas quite made up, much to the delight of the youngsters present.

Just as the concert seemed to be coming to an end, a familiar chant was heard, and soon, video clips of the famous Woodstock concert in 1969 were flashed on the giant screen, showing a very young and zapped-out Santana, with flashes of drummer Mike Shrieve, percussionist Areas and keyboardist Rolie. It was time for the ultimate Santana number ‘Soul Sacrifice’ and an electrifying rendition was followed by short excerpts from ‘Bridegroom’, George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘Toussaint L’Overture’, dedicated to the 18^th century leader of the Haitian revolution.

Two hours and 15 minutes, all in all. Despite a few flaws here and there, it was an out-and-out treat for Santana fans. Yes, one has seen him in films shot in much younger days and the obvious comparisons did come up, but it was a hyper-energetic performance by everyone.

The set list, of course, concentrated on four albums ― the first three releases ‘Santana’, ‘Abraxas’ and ‘Santana III’, and his later super-hit ‘Supernatural’, with a few exceptions here and there. Nothing from ‘Zebop’ and ‘Caravanserai’, two of his best albums. Or from ‘Borbolletta’, ‘Marathon’, ‘Welcome’, ‘Milagro’ or his newest ‘Shape Shifter’. Some awesome songs like ‘She’s Not There’, ‘Victim of Circumstance’ and his version of JJ Cale’s ‘The Sensitive Kind’ weren’t there. No ‘Oneness’ either.

It didn’t matter, really. One may always crib that Santana is well past his prime, and that India has now become a market for out-of-fashion rock dinosaurs. But the truth is that besides taking one on a joyful nostalgia ride, one gets a true idea of the innovation and ingenuity that went behind the creation of such music.

Carlos Santana pioneered a unique brand of rock music, infusing elements of Latino music, jazz, blues, salsa and reggae. Yes, he’s had a few low phases over the years, but then, that’s a trait common to all rock artistes. What’s creditable is that 60s giants like him, Bob Dylan, Ian Anderson, Eric Clapton and Leonard Cohen are still producing some highly listenable new material, whereas the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, David Gilmour and Roger Waters are still rocking the live circuit.

Personally, every moment was well worth it, right from the Facebook build-up and CD-listening spells to the journey to the actual show and even the long wait after the concert ended. Probably, my one regret was that I didn’t have a Santana T-shirt, and chose a Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ black tee for the show. But who cares? It was a dream come true.

 

CD review/ Jab Tak Hai Jaan; Music: A R Rahman

CD REVIEW

Jab Tak Hai Jaan/ Music: A R Rahman

Genre: Hindi film music

YRF Music/ Rs 175

Rating: ***

OVER the past couple of years, A R Rahman seems to have drastically cut down on his Hindi film work. In 2010, he had only two releases ― Mani Rathnam’s ‘Raavan’ and Abbas Tyrewala’s ‘Jhootha Hi Sahi’. Last year, there was only Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Rockstar’. And this year, he’s done Gautam Menon’s ‘Ekk Deewana Tha’ and the late Yash Chopra’s ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, with nothing lined up over the next few months.

Of these, only ‘Rockstar’ really matched up to Rahman standards. Though he used only one rock song ‘Sadda haq’ and concentrated on many other genres, he also had successful tunes in ‘Naadaan parindey’, ‘Katiyan karoon’ and ‘Kun faya kun’. The best thing about ‘Rockstar’ was that he used Mohit Chauhan’s voice on all songs to portray Ranbir Kapoor, thus maintaining consistency.

In ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, Rahman goes back to his frequent practice of using an assortment of singers, some of whom are yet to make their mark in Hindi films, or who probably belong to the ‘Rahman camp’.  He’s done that in so many of his later films – ‘Yuva’, ‘Guru’, ‘Rang de Basanti’, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, ‘Ghajini’ and ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ ― and though he did produce many good songs in these films, the overall efforts were not necessarily cent per cent consistent, unlike some of his work in the 90s.

The same thing happens with ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’. The songs have been created well, but the singing is rather inconsistent. A couple of songs really work, while some have very obvious drawbacks. Gulzar’s lyrics show flashes of brilliance, but his dependence on pure Punjabi on two numbers may make them hard to follow in some regions.

What’s really creditable, of course, is the quality of the arrangements, and how Rahman has used various instruments. Production-wise, ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ is first-rate, though on a few songs, one also gets the feeling that his dependence on orchestration is at the cost of melody.

The film has six songs, one reprise, one instrumental and one Aditya Chopra-penned poem set to music. The opening Punjabi song ‘Challa’ has been sung by Rabbi, who seems to have an obvious hangover of his hit song ‘Bulla ki jaana’. But what obviously makes this song is Keba Jeremiah’s brilliant guitaring, Ranjit Barot’s tight drumming and the short back-up vocal stretch.

Half the media has alleged that ‘Challa’ is a copy of Eagle Eye Cherry’s ‘Save Tonight’, based on a quote by one source, but there is no similarity between the two, except that they both begin with acoustic guitars and have a similar tempo. Tunewise, they are totally different, and even the orchestrations are not similar.

‘Saans’ has very Gulzar-styled wordplay like ‘Saans mein teri, saans mili toh, mujhe saans aayi; Rooh ne choo li jism ki khoshboo, tu jo paas aayi’. This song has been brilliantly orchestrated, with a haunting symphonic feel and Naveen Kumar’s melodious flute. However, the normally excellent Shreya Ghoshal seems a bit forced and unnatural, specially when reciting the word ‘Saans’, whereas Mohit Chauhan sounds a bit like Udit Narayan. The reprise, sung by Shreya, is shorter and sweeter.

‘Ishq Shava’ again has excellent arrangements, a Middle Eastern feel using the oud, mandolin and saz, and Gulzar gems like ‘Baadalon pe paaon rakho kabhi; Un mein zameen nahin hoti’. But the main melody line has a heard-it before feeling, and the song uses the very obvious Arabic word ‘Marhaba’. Moreover, while Raghav Mathur sounds crisp, Shilpa Rao’s voice jars.

The biggest treat comes from ‘Heer’, with Harshdeep Kaur sounding melodiously outstanding on this Punjabi folk-inspired tune. It’s the kind of song that grows on repeated listening. Of all the singers Rahman has promoted, Harshdeep seems to have the greatest future.

Neeti Mohan, who began with the band Aasma and recently sang the ‘Student of the Year’ song ‘Ishqwala Love’, comes up with the catchy ‘Jiya Re’. Again, her voice may not really be extraordinary and she seems to struggle on the higher notes, but she’s helped by a peppy, sing-along tune, Chandresh Kudwa’s guitarwork and a neat rap stretch by Sofia Ashraf. Nice, party piece.

Singer Javed Ali, a Rahman favourite, sings the title song along with Shaktisree Gopalan. This is perhaps one of the soundtrack’s weak spots, with the singing going haywire, the tune sounding like a nursery rhyme and the antara reminding you of one part of the ‘Padosan’ hit ‘Main chali main chali’.

The instrumental ‘Ishq Dance’ is a rhythmic delight, with drummer Ranjit Barot and percussionists Faizan Hussain and Nishad Chandra bursting with sheer energy, and the back-up vocals, guitar and bass adding life. This could be used as a great interlude in Rahman’s live shows.

Finally, we have Shah Rukh Khan reciting Aditya Chopra’s poem which begins ‘Teri aankhon ke namkeen mastiyaan, teri hansi ki beparwah gustakhiyaan, teri zulfon ke lehrati angdaaiyan, nahin bhooloonga main, jab tak hai jaan’. Again, a great musical backdrop gives this some zest.

Overall, ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ is the kind of soundtrack which may not impress on first hearing, but grows when heard regularly. Though one may crib that this isn’t among Rahman’s best in terms of the nature of the songs, it’s definitely above par as far as instrumentation goes. A little more emphasis on melody than on sound would have taken it a few notches higher.

RATING SCALE: * Poor; ** Average; *** Good; **** Excellent; ***** Classic