Musicians of India

While sipping my morning tea today, I was reading an interview of Ranjit Barot.

For those, who don't know him, he is the Son of Kathak legend Sitara Deviji and one of the best drummers in india. Ranjit infuses his western influenced chops with his Indian soul. He creates rhythms that are intricate and unpredictable; yet they groove ferociously and swing effortlessly. He makes odd-time signatures seem as natural as breathing. He is also one of India’s top music producers, and an accomplished composer and arranger. He has written numerous films scores and performed with some of India’s best musicians.

Here is the extract from the interview posted on Abstract Logix :-
Rod: I read where you said that in the ’80s, it was hard to make a living as a drummer.

Ranjit: It was. 1986, I think, is when the electronic revolution hit India; and I got replaced by basically a drum machine. It was heavy, because I was not making any money; and it was kind of scary for a bit. I got a break working in a studio. This piano player, who’s also on Floating Point , Louiz Banks – an old friend of mine – he gave me a break in the studio. I wanted to leave. I said, “Well, I’m gonna go to America. At least there are still drummers there.” I didn’t really know whether they needed drummers, I just felt that any place besides Bombay would be okay.

After reading this paragraph, I asked a question to myself, "Is a musician's life so hard ? Can't a musician survive in india ?".

We belong to a country which has deep musical roots. Our Vedas and Upanishads have transcripts related to music, we worship Goddess Sarasvati for blessing us with musical knowledge. Indian music has a history spanning millennia and has developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as sources of religious inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. Today, it has reached far west where people have started learning and appreciating our stuff. Be it Baisakhi, Durga Pooja, Poongal, Oonam, Navraatri; we have songs for every festival and occasion.

Our history proves that musical performances were a part of our evolution. The Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written at an uncertain date in classical India (between 200 BC and 200 AD). It is based upon the much older Natya Veda which contained 36,000 shlokas. Our Maharajas had Mahasabhas were artists would perform for the king and courtiers. Kucheries, Arangetrams, Tamashas were a part of our history.

How can a country with such musical heritage lack in terms of opportunities for musicians ?

Today, a typical middle class man would want his son or daughter to become a Doctor, Engineer, Programmer or Scientist. He would want them to go abroad and earn a fancy salary. How many of us would encourage our children to become a musician ? Do we even consider B.A or M.A in Music as an academic degree ? Whats the future of a person in india even if he gets a degree from the esteemed institutions like Berklee college of Music or Trinity college of Music ?.

We feel good when an Indian gets 2 Oscars for a single movie score. We feel proud when we hear that an indian received standing ovation at 1967 Monterey Pop Festival in California. We are filled with joy when an indian artist wins a Grammy but at the end, we know that our country lacks opportunities for musicians and we would never want our children to suffer because of this.

The electronic revolution is also responsible to some extent for these changes. We prefer downloading music rather than buying a CD, we prefer to watch TV instead of going out for a concert or drama. We love the so called re-mixed songs which are butchered by a person who doesn't understand anything of melody and rhythm and calls himself a DJ. We spend thousands of rupees at a pub for costly liquor and a pathetically re-mixed track but we never pay attention to the begger who sits at the railway station overbridge and plays an Ektara.

Sure there are many talent hunts which are conducted by our Television channels but most of them are a replacement for family drama rather than a true talent hunt, all of them are for promoting singers or comedians. There are no talent hunts where musicians can show their potential. Ther are hardly few clubs where musicians can play and show their potential. The concert scene is still at an adolescent stage but improving day by day. Lot of playback singers are opting for a band instead of minus one track which in turn is boosting the requirement for live musicians.

Orchestra was a good option for many years during the 90s but now even that has come to a verge of standstill, thanks to the 10 PM deadline by our state Government. I wonder why these deadlines are never considered during a political campaign ? As of today, Classical and Carnatic music are confined to temples. There are hardly any listeners who would like to attend a Mehfil, Tamasha or a kucheri. At this stage, all I can do is crib and pray for my fellow musicians who earn their bread and butter from music. Let things change for good.
I got a video of one of my favorite rajasthani folk songs which I am posting below. My respect to the artist who has sung the song in a beautiful way.

Enjoy the video.

Homage to Abbaji - A tribute to Ustad Allarakha

In religion and spirituality, a Pilgrimage is defined as a journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of many major religions participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.

Every year, 3rd February is marked as a pilgrimage trip on my scheduler. A Pilgrimage to pay tribute to a Maestro who's fingers spread the magic of Indian Classical Music worldwide. An uncommon pulsation which went stilled on 3rd February 2000. His wrists, palms and fingers produced a percussion of magical quality which maintained the tenor and tempo of India's uniquely assimilative musical culture.




Ustad Alla Rakha & Tabla are synonyms. This great man introduced Tabla to the Western world and is considered one of the greatest tabla players of the 20th century. He popularized the art of tabla, playing across the globe, elevating the status and respect of his instrument by leaps and bounds.

He achieved world renowned status as Pandit Ravi Shankar's chief accompanist during his apex in the 1960s, delighting audiences in the West with his percussive wizardry. He was not only an uncanny accompanist with flawless timing and sensitivity but also soloist & master of improvisation.

The partnership was particularly successful, and his legendary and spellbinding performances with Shankar at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969 served to introduce classical Indian music to general Western audiences.

He once said in an interview that when he played outside India, his aim was to teach the Western world about the beauty of Indian music. I had read somewhere that ,when he was requested to say a few words on his 80th birthday celebrations, he played the tabla instead. "This is the language I know," he told the audience. Such was his dedication towards music.

Since his demise, an annual event to pay tributes to Ustad Alla Rakha is organised by his son, Ustad Zakir Hussain, "Homage to Abbaji" is conducted on 3rd February at Shanmukhananda Auditorium Sion.

Many renowned national and international artistes perform at this ceremony to pay their tributes. The pillars of Indian music like Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Kishen Maharaj, Ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram, Mridangam Maestros Umayalpuram Sivaraman & Sri Karaikudi Mani Iyer have graced this event with their presence.

International Artistes like John Mc Laughlin, Terry Bozzio, Giovanni Hidalgo, Pete Lockett, Bela Fleck, Edger Mayer, Antonio Sanchez & Steve Smith were also a part of the earlier concerts.

This year's barsi was no exception. The audience got a rare chance to witness magic of some awe-inspiring musicians like Charles Lloyd, Eric Harland, Zakir Hussain and many others play together.

Image Courtesy - radioandmusic.com

The morning session titled 'Taal pranam' was opened by flautist Rakesh Chaurasia. This was followed by performances by Ranjit Barot & Sridhar Parthasarathy along with students of Ustad Allarakha Institute of Music. The morning session was concluded by performance by sitar exponent Niladri Kumar with Ustad Zakir Hussain on Tabla.

The afternoon session called 'Taal Tapasya' featured solo performances by Vikku Vinayakram along with his son Uma Mahesh, a solo performance by tabla maestro Puran Maharaj & was concluded by Taufiq Qureshi on Djembe accompanying Ajay Joglekar on Harmonium.

The evening session 'Celebrate Abbaji' was started by the Dhaak players from West Bengal, the band 'Sangam' featured Jazz great Charles Lloyd, Eric Harland, Zakir Hussain. Later Louis Banks, Shankar Mahadevan, Niladri Kumar, Ranjit Barot & Loy Mendonca joined in for a Splendid Jam Session leaving the audience spellbound.

Ustad Allarakha will always be with us, whenever Tabla is played anywhere in the world, his magical fingers will always be remembered.