Indian notes on a world high

Playing to the gallery: Indian notes on a world high

On June 29, 1987, world music formally became a genre to be marketed. India has capitalized on that and struck a chord globally

Simon Broughton


With wild hair and intense eyes, the godfather of world music smiles benignly. It was George Harrison, the former Beatle, who came up with that description of Ravi Shankar. It was sweet of George, says Shankar modestly, and perhaps in a way it is true, but it was Yehudi Menuhin who saw the possibilities. It was over half a century ago that sitarist Ravi Shankar and violinist Yehudi Menuhin first performed on stage in Paris. It was the start of the Wests serious interest in world music the first time a musician from another tradition had been given equal billing with a western classical performer. No surprise that the riches and complexities of Indian music have fascinated the West ever since.
Shankar still remembered that Menuhin collaboration as a significant moment when i talked to him at the time of his Farewell to Europe concert in June last year. It was a unique concert because i think it was the first time East and West met on the concert stage. I remember Yehudi was most impressed because i improvised spontaneously and never had anything written down. Their subsequent album West Meets East won a Grammy in 1967 in the Chamber Music category , as there was no World Music category till 1991. And the godfather went on defying categories to influence jazz musicians John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Buddy Rich and, famously, the worlds most celebrated pop group, The Beatles although it was George Harrison who actually played sitar on Norwegian Wood . But with performances at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Woodstock in 1969 and working with Harrison on the Concert for Bangladesh , the first major music charity concert in 1971, Ravi Shankar was the groundbreaking pioneer for Indian musicians on the world music scene.
There have been many others in the intervening years embracing many different styles of music Indo-Jazz , fiery percussion , Bollywood and the spiritual one of the enduring fascinations of India for the West.
Shakti, formed in 1975, featured English guitarist John McLaughlin, with top Indian musicians from North and South, including tabla player Zakir Hussain. They exploited the jazz-like , improvisatory character of Indian music, but like all the best collaborations, its success wasnt based on any formula but on the instrumental skill of the musicians and their responsiveness to each other.
Zakir Hussain has probably been as prolific as Ravi Shankar, being the tabla player of choice for musicians across the globe. He started working with drummer Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead and with percussionists from Nigeria, Brazil and Puerto Rico recorded Planet Drum , which won the World Music Grammy the first year they had one in 1991. Its probably largely thanks to him that the tabla has become one of the most-widely used drums in the world.
The other musician from South Asia to have a profound influence on the world music scene was the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The Pakistani qawwali singer was already well-known on the subcontinent when he started touring the West in the mid-80 s. First, he was mainly performing for Asian audiences , but thanks to Peter Gabriel and the WOMAD festival, reached a much wider audience. It was Mustt Mustt that took his music worldwide . Despite his death in 1997, Nusrats music is still being reworked and qawwali, and other forms of Sufi music from the subcontinent, remain very popular on the world music scene.
Today, the musician whos caught the attention of the West is A R Rahman, thanks to his soundtrack for the multi-Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. In India he came to fame with his music for Bombay (1994) and Rangeela (1995), his first Hindi feature. While the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack has been lavishlypraised and awarded, the scores for his stage musicals Bollywood Dreams and Lord of the Rings (with Finnish band Vrttin ) are pretty vapid. But commercially, Rahman is more successful than Ravi Shankar ever was.
Shankar, aside from leading the way, has left a legacy in the form of his daughter. Anoushka is carrying on his illustrious tradition not only in her sitar playing, but with her recent fusion project with Karsh Kale, Breathing Under Water . And a new name to watch out for is Kiran Ahluwalia born in Bihar , but relocated to Toronto aged nine. Shes a ghazal singer, who studied with Vithal Rao and writes her own music. On her album Wanderlust , Ahluwalia sings in Urdu and Punjabi, but gives her music a new twist. My music is a representation of my personality, she says. Beyond my birth in India, growing up in Canada and now living in New York, im a person of the world and the world is there to influence me whether its Portuguese fado or trancey African grooves. I dont only sing traditional songs, i want to create a new genre. World music from India just keeps on coming.

WATCH OUT FOR



1.

Kaushiky Chakrabarty (classical vocalist)

2.

Kala Ramnath (violinist)

3.

Kiran Ahluwalia (nu-ghazal singer)

4.

Susheela Raman (singer)

5.

Niraj Shag (composer and producer)