Making a sound fusion

This Saturday soak in contemporary African beats the classical flute and the traditional ghatam as they fuse into an eclectic sound on stage at Bandrarsquos St Andrewrsquos College auditorium Renowned percussionists Trilok Gurtu and Sivamani along with flute maestro Ronu Majumdar young ghatam mridangam and kanjira player Giridhar Udupa and Sangeet Haldipur on keyboards promise to create magic as part of Vandan a classical Fusion concert However this isnrsquot the first time that Fusion music has taken centre stage in the cityAnticlockwise Louiz Banks piano Agnelo Fernandes keyboards Niladri Kumar sitar and zitar Satyajit Talwalkar tabla Sheldon DrsquoSilva electric bass and Gino Banks drums during a Fusion music performanceThe last few decades have witnessed collaborations between artistes from different styles of music mdash Indian Classical and Western mdash to create sounds that can be broadly termed as Fusion music ldquoAccording to me itrsquos not called Fusion music anymore but World Music As an artiste I bring African beats vessel drumming and a lot of different world percussion styles to my concertsrdquo says SivamaniFusion music unpluggedWhile other genres of music might have set definitions according to Haldipur Fusion is still a vague genre in Indian music ldquoSome people have the mindset that blending one Western instrument with different Ragas in music becomes Fusion but the genre goes beyond that It doesnrsquot necessarily have to be only IndoWesternA file photograph of Shankar Mahadevan Zakir Hussain U Shrinivas John McLaughlin and V Selvaganesh who are part of the band Remember Shakti that derives its name from the acoustic Indian fusion band ShaktiTwo instruments with different characteristics coming together can also create Fusion musicrdquo he shares Accomplished drummer Gino Banks who grew up listening to Fusion sounds thanks to the many performances by his father famous Jazz pianist Louiz Banks believes that ldquoTo create good quality Fusion music each artiste should have a strong foundation of the instrument or the style of music they playrdquoMajumdar adds ldquoFusion can be created only with original music Otherwise it creates confusion The genre has gained popularity because people want to hear new sounds however it is still unexplored and has a long journey aheadrdquoSangeet HaldipurThe journey of FusionIn the recent past one of the successful attempts at Fusion music was the band Shakti Formed in the mid1970s the group blended musical styles like Carnatic with Jazz and comprised greats like L Shankar violin Zakir Hussain tabla and John McLaughlin guitar among others Some other popular Fusion groups formed during the rsquo80s included Louiz Banks headlining the Indian Jazzfusion band Sangam the World Music group Silk that teamed up Banks with Shankar Mahadevan Karl Peters bass Sivamani and Sridhar Parthasarthi kanjira as well as the IndoSwedish Fusion Jazz band Mynta that featured Fazal Qureshi tabla kanjira and Mahadevan on their India tourldquoThese were instrumental in putting Indian fusion artistes on the world map Like with other styles of music Fusion also has many subgenres ndash light Fusion heavy Fusion JazzRock etcrdquo reasons BanksWhile the Fusion style of music has been around for decades it has caught the ear of audiences only in recent times Haldipur attributes the genrersquos burgeoning popularity to newage reality shows ldquoThe decline of Pop music since early 2000s has given more scope to this genre With reality shows like Coke Studio and The Dewarists among others Fusion music is getting bigger platforms and becoming more accessiblerdquo he addsGino BanksNot just a jamWhile creating Fusion music involves experimenting with sounds it is often confused with jamming together mdash the main reason for Classical purists to raise their eyebrows at this genre Udupa a trained ghatam player who hails from the purist background says ldquoPeople might think that Fusion music is easy to play but it is not Fusion is not just jamming together One needs to follow certain rules even while being part of Fusion music concerts It is not just blending in two different instruments but understanding and adapting the styles of other musicians When I went to Europe to play with a Flamenco group I had to learn the roots of Flamenco music and combine it with my instrumentsrdquo says UdupaRonu MajumdarGetting back to our rootsWith the world becoming a global village and crosspollination of artistes and musical styles more frequent the Fusion music scene is only set to grow believe experts This genrersquos burgeoning popularity is also attributed to younger hipper crowds who wish to listen to new sounds Interestingly Fusion music concerts are also a way for the younger audience to tune into traditional music a reason for many Indian Classical musicians to be part of Fusion music concertsGiridhar Udupa ghatam player ldquoThere are many youngsters who after attending my Fusion music concerts started following my style of music and then actually came to attend my Classical concerts Newage Fusion concerts are making the audience more aware of traditional classical music which is greatrdquo concludes UdupaSivamani percussionistOn February 7 730 pmAt St Andrewrsquos College Auditorium St Dominic Road off Hill Road Bandra WCall 26459667Log on to wwwbookmyshowcom