BANGALORE: Two very different international musicians came together to combine British rock and classical Indian music in an exciting tour of the subcontinent. They need no introduction — Jethro Tull, a legendary British band and Anoushka Shankar, a renowned sitar player and daughter of Pandit Ravi Shankar, have joined in a true spirit of collaboration to celebrate world music.
Jethro Tull was formed back in 1968 in London, where a group of young musicians with a love of blues, folk and rock came together and played the local pubs and clubs. By the mid-seventies they had reached astronomical heights of fame. And their success is still ongoing.
They have an impressive 30 albums to their name, and have sold more than 50 million records.
Anoushka Shankar on the other hand is a young musical prodigy. She was schooled in Indian classical music in the tradition of her well-known father.
At barely 13, she recorded her first debut album, recording the spiritual sounds of the sitar. She went on to receive two Grammy nominations.
Ian Anderson, the flutist, who leads the band, was familiar with Anoushka’s and her father’s work. Infact her music was the first piece to be played at his daughter’s wedding over two years ago. And Anoushka believed it would be an interesting opportunity to work with Jethro Tull. “They are so strong within the mainstream genre… their western classical music has intricate melody and rhythm.
They’re accomplished musicians. We have a great deal of respect for each other. We want to give the best of both traditions”, said Anoushka who was in the city for the concert ‘a night with the 100 Pipers and the Princess’.
Serious thought and consideration has been given in preparing for this concert. In the spirit of modern times, they were able to communicate from different countries and write the music via email. From the summer, they have been exchanging rough music recordings on MP3 tracks, so they could discuss the arrangements and notes.
When they actually met, they only had one rehearsal in Kolkata before the big show, as Anoushka asserted, “We didn’t want to fall on our faces, we prepared as much as we could beforehand.” Ian smiles and adds, “It’s always an adventure when there is improvisation, if we lose our way we just make it up”.
The concerts will certainly be an exciting opportunity to see the interaction between the world class artists. Ian explains, “What’s nice is the music interaction… it inspires you to take it to the highest place it can be, together”.
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