Sounds of music

Five musicians from a broad spectrum of genres come together for an eclectic mix.

Jazz meets Indian classical meets electronica — fusion in music may be as old as music itself, yet such experiments have a tendency to surprise. Melange, a five-city concert that begins on January 25, will be an experiment all right, with seven musicians — Indian and western — collaborating on stage. In all likelihood, the result will be eclectic. The line up includes sitarist Ustad Shujaat Khan and Indian-American percussionist Karsh Kale will play collective compositions, and they will be joined by popular Indian jazz bassist Karl Peters, The Rolling Stones’ saxophonist Tim Ries, jazz pianist Kevin Hays, tabla player Yogesh Samsi and Iranian vocalist Katayoun Goudarzi.

In 90 minutes, the musicians will play six compositions. The concert will open and close with Iranian musician Goudarzi’s poetry. Goudarzi, who started writing poetry at the age of seven in her native Tehran, will present the poems in her distinctive melodic style of recitation, with the instrumental music as the background.

Many of the artistes in the line up are already familiar with each other as they have collaborated on albums together. Gourdarzi has performed with Ries and Hays, and has recorded an album with Khan called Delbar. Kale, a popular fusion composer, too, has collaborated with Khan before. “In this series of concerts I will be playing the drums. I have played a few shows with Shujaat bhai in the past. At Melange, we will be playing some material that was developed through our shows in New York,” says Kale, who composes music blending Indian classical with electronica. He recently worked with Delhi-based fusion duo Midival Punditz to compose the background score of the upcoming Farhan Akhtar-starrer Karthik Calling Karthik.

Some of the musicians in the line up, are, of course, not familiar with Indian percussion. American jazz pianist Kevin Hays says, “I am a relative newcomer to Indian music so this initial immersion experience with Shujaat (Khan) has been incredible. Exposure to this music has already had a profound impact on my way of hearing and thinking about music.” As the pianist in the group, Hays will provide the basic harmonic structure for the music at Melange. Thus, it will be a true meeting of sounds.

Concert schedules:

• Hyderabad, January 25, at Hyderabad International Convention Centre
• Bangalore, January 26, at Chowdiah Memorial Hall
• Mumbai, January 28, at Nehru Centre
• Kolkata, January 29, at Royal Calcutta Turf Club
• New Delhi, January 31, at Hamsadvani, Pragati Maidan

Tickets priced at Rs 200 and Rs 500 are available on www.bookmyshow.com or call 022-39895050.