For people who were under the assumption that music bands are a fairly new concept, think again! Ustad Aashish Khan with tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain established an Indo-American musical band Shanti way back in 1969, which later on became a fusion group -- “The Third Eye”.
Inspired by them and to continue their legacy, music act “Indian Blue” also form their base on Indian classical music by incorporating elements from blues, jazz and rock.
And their strongest belief stands on the fact that Fusion music is from India and not from the West.
The blue take-off
Based out of Kolkata, the band consists of seven members, Shiraz Ali Khan, the lead musician (Sarode) Dishari Chakraborty (Santoor), Avijit Sarkar (Drums), Bachospati Chakraborty (Bass Guitar), Ronodeep Bose (Electric Guitar) and Subholina Sen (Vocalist). Shiraz Ali Khan hails from the lineage of the prestigious Maihar Gharana. Like his great grandfather Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan and father Late Dhyanesh Khan, Shiraz is determined and rooted to break his way through the music circuit as a sarode player. “I met up with Dishari Chakraborty, Avijit Sarkar and started performing as a small band in 2002. It was basic acoustic stuff and vocals. But with time, we discovered our love for fusion and instrumental music. In 2009, a full-fledged band with members from both traditional and contemporary music was formed,” Shiraz explains.
Blue, but not blue
The original classical compositions of the band are strongly influenced by the gurus of the Gharana while their English compositions have a tinge of Beatles in them. Shiraz says that somehow the whole fusion funda works well for them. “Fusion has its presence, but instrumental fusion is an experiment we are trying to work on. Playing the acoustic sarode along with a Fender guitar amplifier with vibrato effect is just amazing. The sound of sarode in fusion music is novel and a successful innovation, which we are trying to implement,” Shiraz explains. This bunch of 20-year-olds are also freelance musicians. However, Shiraz says 70 per cent of their time goes into music and the rest into earning bread.
Quite popular for their instrumental compositions, Shiraz says that Bangalore has been their best so far. “It is something people usually don’t work on. Apart from Hindustani music, we have also reproduced two Beatles tracks, Come together and While my guitar gently weeps,” he informs.
Beatles and the Maihar Gharan go back in time. And how? “Well, George Harrison took some music lessons from Ustad Ravi Shanker,” he says.
What next?
Indian Blue is currently working on background music for Bengali and documentary films. They are also working on putting together their debut album. The band will be performing at the Hard Rock Cafe today, from 9 pm onwards.