I have always been passionate about music and have written and composed songs since I was 6 years old. Since my upbringing was mostly in American schools in Europe and my influences in music were all the classic bands such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, etc., most of the music and lyrics that I wrote were in English and of western style.

Visionary - Aditya Bhasin

On moving back to India I joined rock bands in school and college, took some training from Delhi School of Music and also learnt informally from my friends. But even though I had this hobby which I loved, I never thought I’d make it my career. So I got busy with professionally educating myself and joined the field of hospitality management. I managed hotels here in India and in US, but after 8 years of work and an amazing promotion waiting for me back in Mumbai, I realized something was missing. This instinctual feeling coupled with angry guests and the whole corporate scene altogether forced me to realize that my underlying and nagging problem was that I needed a change.

It was at that time that I met up with good family friends – John and Faith Singh, who had successfully run a contemporary hand block printing company – Anokhi, for 30 years and had spent the years of their retirement working in the field of heritage conservation. They’d started an NGO called Jaipur Virasat Foundation along with running the Jaipur Heritage International Festival.

Potful of talent: Some artists forming Rajasthan Roots

After one meeting with John, discussing the possibilities of working with thousands of artists from different communities of Rajasthan, the scope for experimentation, production, freedom of expression, and thus empowering them and providing a stable livelihood – seemed like a mission and a vision that I just couldn’t walk away from. So without any job confirmation with the foundation, I came back to Delhi, turned down my promotion, quit my job and went on to settle down in Rajasthan.

The next few years were a crash course for me in every sense – a new language – Marwari, songs and traditional beats I’d never heard before with many different instruments and sounds. Vinod Joshi – the anthropologist who worked with the foundation was a storehouse of knowledge and a genuine grass root contact. We would get a call at any random hour, informing us that there was something happening in some remote village like storm chasers, etc. Vinod and I would jump into John’s SUV and drive off into the countryside. Sometimes it would be all night Jagrans, an opportunity to meet Jasnath Ke Bhope – dancing barefoot on burning embers of coal, or a whole village of Tejaji ke Bhope – dancing with hundreds of defanged cobras and sometimes it would be Momasar – where on every Holi, for 3 days everyone dresses up in drag, in unimaginable characters and they dance, act and perform street theatre.

Also an effort to discover the best artists of Rajasthan was made by JVF, organizing talent hunts and regional festivals in small villages. The response and outcome was tremendous, attracting hundreds of undiscovered artists and thousands of spectators. All this ground work was a seed which spawned the collective and soon many of these artists began performing in concerts in Jaipur and all over India.

Gifted: Kutle Khan on Kartals

When the work load of touring and performing became overwhelming I had to leave my day job in the foundation and concentrate entirely on production. Soon with support from John and the others, we saw the beginning of Morchang Studios – the production house and Rajasthan Roots – a collective of folk musicians.

We stayed away from the typical fusion – either with western drums or drum beats and allowed for the sound to evolve on its own. By introducing instruments which made the music and tone warmer such as the bass guitar and other melodic instruments such as the bamboo flute, guitar and saxophone, the outcome was an easily palatable sound to people all around the world across all age groups.

7 years went by and we’d showcased performances all over the world. In places like England, Singapore, Japan, Europe, Abu Dhabi and the middle east, as well as prestigious events in India such as the Times Delhi and Kolkata Festivals, blueFROG in Mumbai and Central Park and Garden of Five Senses in Delhi.

Production and collaboration has always stressed upon learning from other world cultures such as Cuban, Latin American and Mali of Africa while collaborating with different musicians such as Idan Rachel and Shye Ben Tzur.  Rodney Branigan from US, Raghu Dixit from Bangalore and many others from France, England, and Middle East provided training, learning and a cultural exchange for all musicians involved. So you will find in our music, traces from different folk cultures and styles. My favorites are the African Blues, the Middle Eastern scales and of course the Sufi traditions.

Rajasthan Roots has been able to promote some of the finest musicians and dancers in a contemporary representation of Rajasthan’s folk culture. The vision is and always has been for the music of Rajasthan to evolve and to represent a current state and emotion. Once the musicians are given the freedom of expression and guided to stay away from songs which have become a stereotype or in some ways a novelty, the new and real sounds of Rajasthan can emerge.

Article by Aditya Bhasin with Divya Srinivasan

Berklee's distinguished faculty from Massachusetts was in Mumbai sharing their profound knowledge with Mumbai's budding musicians.

The Berklee College of Music based in Boston, Massachusetts has always been regarded as the premier institute specializing in music education in North America. Starting off as a school for jazz in the mid 40’s, Berklee soon adopted more diverse genres ranging from rock to bluegrass and even hip hop.

Study of theory as well as a practical approach to music combined with teachings on the working of the music industry provided its students with an unrivaled array of skills resulting in multiple honors over the coming years.

Providing degree courses in composition, film scoring, music business/management, music production and songwriting, the college has earned a noteworthy alumni consisting of greats such as Duke Ellington, guitarists Bill Frisell, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and renowned producer Quincy Jones.

With two record labels and a radio station in its arsenal, the celebrated institute soon spread its wings to students of different nationalities, visiting countries around the world conducting clinics and auditions for interested musicians. Collaboration with Tabula Rasa music and Furtados brought this tour to Jamnabai Narsee School from the 13^th to the 16^th of February and along with it an army of Mumbai musicians looking to learn from workshops headed by some of the most distinguished personnel of the college.

Mock auditions along with a presentation carried out by Gojko Damjanic, the Assistant Director of International Admissions, provided young musicians from the city a relative idea on tackling future opportunities in their musical careers.

Day one of the program’s visit to India began bright and early, with sessions on how to approach auditions, first for rhythm instruments and later for melody instruments and vocals. These mock auditions along with a presentation carried out by Gojko Damjanic, the Assistant Director of International Admissions, provided young musicians from the city a relative idea on tackling future opportunities in their musical career.  A simple and down to earth explanation of the processes by teachers well versed in the matter provided those in attendance with substantial information.

The second day of clinics was hosted by what is commonly referred to as the ‘Dream Team’ of Berklee College including the likes of Assistant Vice President of International programs, Greg Badolato. An accomplished Broadway saxophonist in his own right, he presented a session on using traditional, western solfege techniques to develop the performer’s ear and assist with developing improvisation vocabulary. Accompanying Greg was Dan Carlin, Chair of Berklee’s film scoring department who in his sessions, demonstrated the entertainment industry’s increasingly rapid evolution of scoring styles, techniques, and applications in movies and video games. Following was Michael Farquharson presenting a session analyzing the use of modes in current pop music and at the same time demonstrating the use of modal harmony in original compositions.

A simple and down to earth explanation of the processes by teachers well versed in the matter provided those in attendance with substantial information.

Emmy award winning Carlin and Juno award recipient Farquharson along with Director of International Programs Jason Camelio certainly possessed the required credentials and convincingly provided the Mumbai audience with a lifetime’s worth of experience while grooming a new generation of talented, credible Indian musicians.

- Berklee was founded by Lawrence Berk, an engineer trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and veteran arranger with the CBS and NBC radio orchestras.

- It was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music.

- With more than a dozen performance and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing more than 70 countries, Berklee is the world’s premier learning lab for the music of today and tomorrow.

- 68 Berklee alumni have received 184 Grammy Awards, including Donald Fagen ’66 of Steely Dan, Diana Krall ’83, and Steve Vai ’79

- 15 Berklee alumni have received 40 Latin Grammy Awards

- The composer of Simpsons, Alf Clausen ’66 who won the Emmy in ’97, ’98 was a student of Berklee

- Howard Shore ’69 won Latin Grammy awards for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004) & The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2002)

Article By Shikher Chaudhary

Images Courtesy: Jack Thomas, Performers Collective School of Music

This Women’s Day, Vignesh Iyer unveils the power of some independent female musicians across the city, along with some in collaboration with the male species.

The stage just got a facelift, a few men with unkempt hair and rugged looks playing instruments. Good stuff, just about normal really. What facelift? As the music flows, it echoes across the place. It just got better, great build up man! Can’t wait for it to explode, here it comes. Yes, that facelift. Where’s it? What makes that stage different? Fresh? Then the voice, the presence. Its different. Confident, alluring and feminine. Its here now, set to stay and resonate. Not just for a couple of hours but more, much more. This Women’s Day, we at The Big M thought we’ll tell you about a few of the fair folk who light up that platform.

SHEFALI ALVARES

Shefali Alvares

Armed with a repertoire matched by few, Shefali Alvares has performed alongside the country’s most talented musicians such as Louis Banks, Karl Peters, Loy Mendonca and of course with her father, Jazz musician – Joe Alvares. A performer since the age of 13, she grew up listening to R&B, Classic Rock, Jazz, Soul, Blues etc. Now performing with ‘The Band’ (Yeah, that’s the name), her originals have a healthy mix of these influences and they manage to stand out as the kind of music that’s laidback and ambient. Categorization wouldn’t do her music any favors, a sure sign of an artiste who has managed to carve out a niche for herself!

The Band is no ordinary band, it features some truly extraordinary musicians. Guitar Maverick Floyd Fernandes, On Drums Jai Row Kavi/Gino Banks(CV too elaborate to state), Bass maestro Sheldon D’Silva and Sangeet Haldipur/Jarvis Menezes on keys. Its likely that the voice may get overshadowed surrounded by such instrumental virtuosity. However, Shefali’s voice complements the music and successfully accomplishes the difficult task of bringing about a balance in harmony, thereby propelling the sound to greater heights.

Shefali and the band have been performing consistently around the country for a while now and are currently working on an album.

PIA SUKANYA

Pia Sukanya

20 years of training in Indian Classical vocals and listening to authentic American folk music meant that writing songs became second nature for this bohemian artiste. Pia Sukanya is a musician cum actor who handles a busy schedule while also managing to get in time for flights to New York, London or Bombay. Born in Cambridge, NY she took to music at an early age while also ensuring she completed her graduation in 2005 with a degree in Social Anthropology.

Her intimate sounding voice is warm, innocent, playful and instantly likable. The song ‘Not in control’ with its tastefully arranged guitar work is a perfect example. The influence of Indian classical music comes to the forefront in the pop – sounding ‘Promise me’ and a free flowing carefree song aptly named ‘Like a Kite’. Pia’s vocal flexibility and range is powerfully displayed in the song titled ‘Just routine’ with its intense mood, frequent pitch changes and use of vibrato. The instruments in most of her songs are in a background sort of a way, allowing the voice to take center stage and captivate listeners.

Confident that her songs will appeal to majority of the Asian listeners, she is in the process of making an album now in collaboration with lyricist Micheal.E.Ward, Arranger Philip Henderson, Guitarist Sanjoy Das (aka Bapi) and Jazz musician Zubin Balaporia.

ANURADHA PAL

Anuradha Pal

Star Tabla virtuoso & Percussionist Anuradha Pal is an internationally acclaimed popular Tabla soloist and versatile accompanist with top Indian classical, African, Jazz & World musicians in major festivals in U.K, USA, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok & Africa.

Training from Tabla legends Ustads Alla Rakha & Zakir Hussain, dedicated riyaaz, & the support from parents Devinder & Ila Pal & husband Shyam Sharma, have established Anuradha Pal as one of the ‘30 leading Women of India’ & ‘a percussionist par excellence’ (according to the India Today 2006). Clarity, tonal balance, pinpoint precision in rhythm & an amazing repertoire spiced with spontaneous creativity have made Anuradha Pal ‘The most influential female musician of Indian classical music’ according to the A. V Max Music Magazine, May 2001.

Anuradha Pal is the founder & music director of two distinct Fusion groups – Stree Shakti’ is Asia’s much acclaimed, all female percussion-based, instrumental and vocal fusion ensemble whereas ‘Recharge’ is a unique World music fusion group combining various elements of Indian, African, Latin and Jazz music. Anuradha composed the background score in ‘Gaja Gamini’, the acclaimed M.F. Hussain film, which won tremendous acclaim in the Cannes Film Festival. She regularly scores music for music albums, theatre & films.

ASHIMA AIYER

Ashima Aiyer

What started off as a hobby after school life turned into something more meaningful for this 23 year old singer/songwriter. Ashima Aiyer started taking guitar lessons and then progressed on to playing with a band called ‘Three degrees off something’. The band may not have lasted, but the musician in Ashima surely did!

Her song ‘Little green men’ is an extremely catchy number, its like that song which one happens to hear just as the day begins and hums it intermittently throughout the day, before dreams take over by night. ‘Any given Sunday’ has a consistent swingy guitar rhythm led by Ashima’s rich and bright sounding voice. While most of her songs have a hint of jazz, the use of unconventional chords is the most striking aspect. ‘Don’t ask me about scales and keys, I play by sights and sounds’ she states on her MySpace page and follows it up.

Influenced by Dave Matthews Band, Patty Griffin, Coldplay et al, passion for music and the love of playing live spurred her on to write her own songs and perform. Originally from Pune, this musician cum analyst at a consultation firm moved to Bombay about 7 months ago. The balancing act isn’t too difficult then, as she manages to handle work and regularly enthrall audiences while performing at the city’s many bustling nightspots.

SHAAIR N FUNC

Shaair N Func

Rated VH1’s TOP TEN emerging bands out of India, Shaair (Monica Dogra) and Func (Randolph Corriea ) form this pulsating Electronica band. Not wanting their music to be restricted to a select audience, their sound is world music personified. Known as one of the best live acts in the country, their costumes, performance and more importantly the music would be best described as path breaking. They’ve got two albums out – The love album and Light Tribe.

SHKABANG

Shkabang

MTV Viva girl Anoushka Manchanda is on vocals for this high on energy, electronic rock and roll group. Accompanying her on the band are Abhijit Nalani, Johan Pais, Pozy Dhar and Shiraz Bhattacharya. They have also come up with a video of their song ‘ I like crazy’. The music is in your face and so are the song names with ‘Asshole’(Up on Myspace) being the pick of the lot! They are currently working on an album.

SRIDHAR/THAYIL

Shridhar/Thayil

Started off as a collaboration in late 2007 between Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil. Their music comes out of Jeet’s guitar and a laptop, which might put the purists off but doubt they’d crib once they actually heard the groovy, beat oriented sound! ‘The Drowning song’ and ‘This be the beat’ are must listens. Suman has been described as a “wonderful ironic soprano” who “provides depth with a clear sound.”

Article by Vignesh Iyer

IWA boasts of 400+ whistling members - both male & female, ranging from ages 10 to 75 years.

‘phhhh…phhhh’ that’s the sound of a whistle that most of us can get out. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the members of the Indian Whistlers Association. It was one of the ‘see it to believe it’ moments, or rather a hear it to believe it moment. On 14^th February the members of IWA performed at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival as a tribute to the great Mohd. Rafi. They kept the huge audience enthralled with their impeccable whistling for well over an hour!

The kurta clad, well shaven, smart members of IWA belonged to various different fields. Some were doctors, some senior managers in MNCs, some owned their own businesses, etc. But they all had one thing in common. They could whistle any tune to perfection. The members showed no signs of inhibition in donning a colourful ‘topi’ while performing a qawali, ‘parda hain parda’.

You would question the variety that a group of whistlers can probably bring to the stage. But the audience was in for a surprise. The performance ranged from solo whistling to duets and even to a symphony like effect brought about by the whole group. One of the youngest performers on stage was Sweta, all the way from Chennai. She is a trained classical singer and a classical dancer. She displayed her art in unique style when she performed a dance and whistled at the same time on ‘Madhuban mein radhika nache re’. As versatile as Rafi sahib himself, the performance included romantic numbers, classical numbers and even qawalis.

IWA has entered the LIMCA Book of Records 2009 with 28 whistlers from all over India whistling "Saare Jahan Se Accha..." in unison

At the end of their performance, the IWA in order to promote whistling as an art held a small competition. They would whistle a tune and the audience was to respond by whistling the paragraph of the song. The audience showed tremendous enthusiasm but no one could elicit a whistle half as clear and accurate as the members of the association.

The roar of the applause at the end of the show depicted that the audience understood and appreciated the rare talent that these members had displayed and that they were in fact willing to accept whistling as an art form.

Do visit http://www.whistleindia.org/ for more info on IWA.

Article & Images courtesy: Nikunj Bhaiya

A lovely winter weekend saw Pune witness the second edition of this musical extravaganza.

Pt. Shivakumar Sharma , Dr. Aneesh Pradhan, Shubha Mudgal and others at the inauguration

It was that time of the year for Ishanya Mall, Pune when it welcomed the return of this mega event called Baajaa Gaajaa on 5^th of Februrary ’10. Initiated by Indian vocalist Shubha Mudgal and Eminent percussionist Dr. Aneesh Pradhan, Directors of Underscore Records Pvt. Ltd, Baajaa Gaajaa is an effort to bring together and provide interactive space to musicians, music lovers, scholars, instrument makers, publishers and a host of organizations and individuals connected with music making in the 21^st century India.

Not often do you see such a wide range of artists, both popular and newbies, belonging to different genres and generations, all performing under one roof. The three day event kicked off on 5^th of Februrary ’10 after a formal inauguration at the hands of Santoor Maestro Pt. Shivakumar Sharma. What followed was 3 full days of pure bliss for the numerous music lovers from Pune and those pouring in from across the country.

Space was never a constraint at the grand Ishanya Mall. This allowed for multiple events to take place simultaneously at various locations inside the venue. The seminar hall would host seminars and film screenings while various musical performances would take place at other locations. The amphitheatre would host the final event of the day which saw Shastrokta (a concert of Hindustani and Carnatic classical music by various artists) on the 1^st day, Neha Boliyaan (a concert of love songs from India by various artists) on the 2^nd and a grand finale on the 3^rd day that had Motherjane and Indian Ocean providing a fitting end to the event.

What makes Baajaa Gaajaa stand out from other musical events is the fact that, not only does it provide a platform for musicians to showcase their talent, but it also addresses the underlying issues relevant to the music scene in India. The completeness of this event is proven by the fact that Baajaa Gaaja ’10 consisted of performances, workshops, exhibitions, tradeshows, seminars and film screenings on different aspects of Indian Music.

Pulling off an event of such magnitude with so much of efficiency is indeed a job well done. It would only be fair to say that initiatives like these will help secure a great future for Indian music. Shubha Mudgal, Dr. Aneesh Pradhan and their entire team deserve all the applause for making Baajaa Gaajaa what it is.

We can’t wait to see Baajaa Gaajaa return in 2011 and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the 3^rd edition of this musical extravaganza to be way bigger and way grander!

• Inauguration on 5th February 2010 by Santoor Maestro, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma.
• Exhibition and sale of CDs, DVDs, books and merchandise pertaining to music
• Documentaries Screened: Forever Young, Soul Voice Sole Voice, Remembered Rhythms: Live in India
• Live performances by artists like Rashid Khan – Hindustani Vocal, TM Krishna – Carnatic Vocal
• Live performances by bands like Something Relevant, Motherjane, Indian Ocean