My favourite Indian Classical-Jazz Fusion Groups -II Mynta - Nordic Ice, Indian Spice

Hi World...

This is my 25th post and I wanted it to be on music…my favourite kind of music…that is Indian Classical-Jazz fusion music…I had already written about my most favourite band, Shakti…

Mynta is another of my favourite Indian Classical-Jazz fusion groups. Mynta’s music is aptly described in their website as ‘a fusion of Nordic Ice and Indian Spice.’ The description is apt because Mynta is a blend of Swedish and Indian musicians.

Mynta was founded in 1979 in Sweden of only Swedish musicians – Santiago Jiminez (Violin), Max Ahman (Guitar), Ola Bothzen (Percussion), and Christian Paulin (Bass). Mynta toured India in 1987 and jammed with Fazal Qureshi (Tabla) [son of the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha & brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain] and Shankar Mahadevan (Carnatic Classical Vocal). Fazal Qureshi was heading an Indian fusion band called ‘Surya’ at that time and this Indo-Swedish combination performed around the world as ‘Mynta-Surya.’ They also brought out an album under this group’s name called ‘First Summer’. This combination subsequently came together as a group and called itself ‘Mynta.’

The Swedish musicians largely play Cool Jazz, and Mynta as a group also focuses on Indian classical, African and Latin American rhythms, Arabic sounds, and Swedish folk music. Shankar Mahadevan’s vocals play the important Indian Classical part in Mynta’s jamming with his soaring alaap-s and singing in both Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. In each piece that Mynta plays, one particular kind of music played by a group member or members is in the foreground, while the other members provide harmonic and rhythmic support.

Anders Hagberg (Flutes, Sax, Keyboard, Vocals), Mikael Nilsson (Percussion, Talking Drum, Udu), and Jan Radesjo (Keyboards) among the Swedish musicians, and Nandkishor Muley (Santoor) and Taufiq Qureshi (Percussion) are also part of Mynta’s musical melange. Mynta has been prolific and has brought out 8 albums, so far apart from performing live in major music festivals all over the world. And all their albums have very nice titles – First Summer, Indian Time, Hot Madras, Nandu’s Dance, Cool Nights, Tea Break, Hot Days, etc. You can sample some of their musical pieces on their website http://www.mynta.net/ … listen to the cool flute on ‘Playing’… and how the bored sounding conversation between the musicians leads to the most unusual vocal-percussion (konakol) with real percussion along with backing jazz in the aptly titled ‘Rapatal’… and the one and only, the most wonderful Shankar Mahadevan, who John McLaughlin calls ‘the voice’, singing Raga Hamsadhwani in Mynta Live… and the very European folkish rhythms with Shankar’s vocals in Ganglat fran Laggars…listen how Shankar’s carnatic aalap slowly fades away and the saxophone which was lingering in the background slowly and unobtrusively comes forward and takes over in Yellow Fellow….I can go on and on…but the taste of the music is in its listening…so, over to you…and tell me how you liked them…

Jai

Shakti - The Legendary Indian Classical - Jazz Fusion band - Part I

Hello World...

I have been a fan of Indian Classical Jazz fusion music for the last 15 years. This bug bit me when I was in CIEFL doing my research, and a friend of mine, we used to call him KP, introduced this genre to me. I had known about Shakti, the legendary group, earlier, but heard them seriously on tape only then. Since then, it has been a great musical journey, a journey of discovery and joy. The first thing I did was to read up whatever was available on this niche genre and started collecting cassettes. Some albums, I got easily, some I had to really struggle to acquire, like Karuna Supreme and Rainbow (Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, John Handy, Zakir Hussain, L. Subramaniam). Now, I can confidently claim that I have almost all the landmark albums in this genre, if not all.

The group Remember Shakti had played in Hyderabad some years back and it was a dream that came true for me. I had heard all their albums, their various avatars over the years, read their interviews, etc., but nothing prepared me for their live performance. They had undergone a massive change…there was a drum kit next to Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan was singing with his full throated ease…What followed the next two hours was absolute bliss…Though I cannot explain in musical terms how it all went off, I was happy that I could see my favourite Indian classical Jazz fusion band perform live…

If not the first, Shakti is one of the earliest groups to experiment with Indian Classical and Jazz-fusion and make a huge success of it. The initial line-up consisted of John McLaughlin on the Guitar, L. Shankar on the Violin, Zakir Hussain on the Tabla and Vikku Vinayakram on the Ghatam (see above photo - the exuberant quartet). How the group itself came together is another story, worth a separate post. The eclecticism of this fusion ensemble can be seen in each artiste’s musical background and the instrument each plays – McLaughlin with his Jazz background on his specially modified scalloped Guitar; Shankar with his Carnatic Classical background on the Violin; Zakir Hussain with his Hindustani Classical background on the Tabla; and Vinayakram with his Carnatic Classical percussion background on the Ghatam (clay pot). This 2/2 melody and rhythm combination gave an almost perfect fusion effect and gave Shakti its characteristic sound. McLaughlin and Shankar played around each other, i.e., going back and forth to the foreground from the combined jamming, while Zakir Hussain and Vinayakram provided the contrasting rhythms. The first avatar of Shakti was known for its ‘fast furious fusion’, symbolised by Shankar’s sometimes alarming speed on the violin, McLaughlin’s snapping pace, Zakir Hussain’s and Vikku Vinayakram’s fingers almost a blur on the tabla and ghatam respectively. One can listen to this ‘triple-f’ effect and visualize the stalwarts on their instruments in all their three abums – Shakti with John McLaughlin (Sony-Colombia), Handful of Beauty (Sony-Colombia), and Natural Elements (Sony-Colombia).

This ensemble came forth with only three albums, but they were active throughout the seventies playing around the world. The members went their separate ways in 1978.

contd in next post...

Jayasrinivasa Rao

Shakti - the legendary Indian Classical-Jazz Fusion band - Part II

Hi World...

Shakti came together again briefly in 1997 (after two decades) in the 50^th year of India’s Independence when Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia joined the group. Pt. Chaurasia on the flute replaced Shankar in the melody segment, as Shankar was unavailable at that time. The concert and the subsequent two-volume album were christened Remember Shakti (Polygram), the new name by which the group would be known thenceforth. Their second avatar was in complete contrast to their first. Unlike Shakti’s dominant fast fusion sound bordering almost on the aggressive, Remember Shakti (with Pt Chaurasia) was unhurried and meditative with Pt Chaurasia holding forth with his marvellous bansuri on long raga explorations, with Mukti (with others contributing as well) unfolding for over an hour and Chandrakauns (name of a Hindustani Classical raga), a little over 30 minutes. In fact, flute is the most influential sound during this brief phase of the ensemble. McLaughlin and Pt. Chaurasia jam together for a musical piece called Zakir (composed by JML; presumably a tribute to Zakir Hussain) and the entire band comes together for Lotus Feet (which, I consider the group’s anthemic melody [composed by McLaughlin], which appears as a signature piece across their three incarnations and IMHO, gives continuity to the group’s musical journey).

Pt Chaurasia was not new to the members of Shakti. He had already jammed with McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain in another influential Indian classical-jazz fusion album called Making Music (ECM Records), where the aforementioned Zakir was one of the pieces rendered. Jan Garbarek joined them for this rendering in this album. Remember Shakti regrouped after two years in 1999 with a change in both the melody and rhythm segments. Vikku Vinayakram’s son Selva Ganesh came in the place of his father in the line-up, ensuring a continuity of Carnatic percussion rhythm and flavour. The strings came back with U. Shrinivas on the Mandolin replacing Pt. Chaurasia, thus reinstating the original 2 and 2 string and percussion blend (see photo above). This incarnation has come out with 1 exclusive album – Believer (Universal – Verve) and another ensemble (with Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Shankar Mahadevan, Sivamani, Debashish Bhattacharya, Bhavani Shankar, Taufiq Qureshi, and others) live concert album called Saturday Night in Bombay (Universal – Verve) (reminds people of another landmark concert and album of which McLaughlin was an integral part - Friday Night in San Francisco [John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, and Paco De Lucia])

All I can say after listening to their music for over 15 years now (and will continue to listen…) is to reiterate the title of one of the compositions in their first album – What Need Have I For This – What Need Have I For That – I Am Dancing At The Feet Of My Lord – All Is Bliss – All Is Bliss…

Happy listening...

Jayasrinivasa Rao