India Post News Service
NEW DELHI:While the Gen-x India is head banging on the tunes of the west, some artists from the west are drawing inspiration from the Eastern musical tradition and trying to experiment and create a blend of the both the genres. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Prem Joshua is exploring and creating a new synthesis in sound which takes us beyond the borders of the East and West. Born in Germany to a musical family, Joshua began learning the flute at the age of five, becoming a fine flautist as a child.
As a teenager he was soon performing in various Rock, Jazz and Fusion bands as a flute and saxophone player, always searching for new ways of expressing and expanding his music. However, a musical "discontent", combined with his search for spiritual, pulled him, perhaps inevitably, towards India - her culture and her music.
Despite this breaking of boundaries, Prem Joshua’s ‘World of Fusion’ retains a deep reverence towards its musical roots. One hears Indian temple chants with reminiscences of urban jazz; Sufi poems set to reggae rhythms; unfettered and complex Indian classical music on sitar and tabla… and soaring melodies on the bamboo flute over driving trance loops sending the listener effortlessly spinning into dervish-like heights of ecstasy.
Recently his band’s new album, In Concert, was released which presents the highlights of their 2007 concert tour. Then we have New York based Karsh Kale, a producer, composer, tabla player, DJ, drummer, singer and songwriter. Karsh Kale is known for melding the music of his heritage with the modern electronic club music of his American upbringing. He often creates a unique blend of Indian percussion with techno music and drum and bass.
His compositions are often strident, loud, and energetic; they are heavy on the percussion and more focused on instrumental arrangements than vocals. In the style of Indian Fusion he is closer to Talvin Singh or State of Bengal than Bally Sagoo or Bill Laswell. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as the Madras Cinematic Orchestra and tabla masters, such as Zakir Hussain. One of his most famous compositions was entitled "Milan", named after his daughter, whose Sanskrit name means "meeting of two rivers".
His last album Broken English features blends of genres ranging from hard breaks and psy-trance to acoustic rock and Hip Hop to cinematic film music. Kula Shaker is another band which has been experimenting with the Indian traditional music.
The british musical group, and Indian Sitar master, Ravi Shankar, have made their journey or voyage one of blending music and spirituality and in doing so, bringing traditional Indian philosophy and spirituality into the mainstream of Western music. Kula Shaker, whose singer/guitarist Crispian Mills is son of actress Hayley Mills and grandson of actor Sir John Mills, stirred up the British charts when their album K (Columbia) went to #1.
Hit songs on the album, "Govinda" and "Tattva," are based on meditations and mantras that Crispian and bass player Alonza Bevan learned while traveling and studying in India. For the members of Kula Shaker, who besides Crispian and Alonza, are keyboardist Jay Darlington and drummer Paul Winter-Hart, bringing a spiritual message back from India and incorporating into their music is part of, as Crispian and Jay name it, "their Grail Quest." The track "Govinda" is now a part of the CD of art of living taught by Sri Sri Ravishankar.
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