River Banks

… Another taxi, an airport, suitcases and instruments, waiting, hours in an aeroplane, sweet-sour dreams, waking up mid-sky, fortunate and unfortunate meetings, changes in climate and food, customs and languages, such is a travellers destiny, « Musafir ki kismat » (a title of one of the songs), he’s always far away from someone, far from something, he leaves bits of himself, sown here and there, he gives and takes, he is both generous and a thief, he loses himself as often as he finds himself, he simultaneously opens and closes the box of desires and regrets, the horizon is a promise, an escape, a river, … A red sky spreads above his head : “Laal Aasman”, this is the title of the Indian record…

Mata Ji ka mandir (Jaipur ke pas)

I met a friend of mine, Dr Asghar, son of Mir Moazam Hussein of Hyderabad (click here), on the outbound, Roissy/ Mumbai flight. He  had a tattered copy of Mirza Ghalib’s ghazals in Urdu ( see here Ghalib, incarnated by Nasiruddin Shah for Indian television) in his pocket (it goes everywhere with him), he had made notes all over it, as I tend to do with my bedside books.  His ancestors knew the great poet and he has a ring that had belonged to Ghalib. We spent part of the flight discussing poetry, we were both touched by the coincidence that had brought us together above Central Asia. He comes to mind, suddenly as I fly back the other way…

… Since yesterday, I no longer sleep with a fan turning above my head, like a wind star, soothing the damp torpor of the shores of the Indian Ocean, but curled up surrounded by greenery, I constantly add wood chips to the fire, to warm my stiff body. The trees have taken on autumn’s colours. The sky is uncertain, although a short time ago, it was trustworthy and regular, it stubbornly kept its promises.

Here in the West, we are entering an unpredictable autumn, it promises nothing and will reveal itself day after day. It’s not only men and women who have different habits, the heavens do too….

… Just before I left the studio, some of the Blue Frog team had come to listen to bits of the mix. While they were listening, I thought that given what they are doing here in Mumbai, some of the team, would probably prefer the original, more Western, versions to the new interpretations, marked by Hindustani instrumental sounds. In fact, one of the directors of the label told me he found it difficult to listen to the shennai, an instrument traditionally associated with weddings in India, (and certainly in his memory). The sound of Renaud Pion’s saxophone, interpreting the original theme, is closer to his desire. Our desires correspond, in places, here and there.

Now we have to work on the visuals and the content of the booklet. I would like the title to be printed on the cover in three of the numerous Indian alphabets, Hindi, Urdu and Latin. With Khuda’s* help, the Indian record will be released there at the beginning of 2011.

My journey along these shores will continue, between Istanbul and Agadir. I already know – even though I don’t really have a perspective on it, given the intensity of this creative period – how much my music has been transformed by the Indian artists’ interpretation, while leaving its specific, essential nature intact. It has emphasized both what is common and different in the aesthetics of playing music. I am impatient to compare this approach with that of the Turkish and Moroccan musicians. I’ll tell you about it soon.

“ God, they have not understood me/ and they will not understand my words,/ give them another heart,/you who have not given me another tongue.”(ghazal by Mirza Ghalib at a  « Mushaira », competitive poetry session, where the novelty of his style was criticized.)

“J’avais oublié ma nuit / puis je me suis souvenu / de ce grain de sable au fond des draps.” Suraj Nath

Hi, Salâm, Namaste, bonjour,

I’d like to tell you how some of the meetings with the musicians went.

Sanjeev & Ashwani Shankar

Sanjeev and Ashvani, the Shankar brothers belong to a long and famous tradition of musicians from the Benares Gharana, and like Paras Nath, the flautist, or Murad Ali, the sarangi player, they began to play when they were very young, at the age of four or five. They say they were woken up before dawn every day and could only go out to play with the other children after they had listened to their father, Pandit Daya Shankar, and their grandfather play the morning ragas, and finish their practice. Their culture transpires through every gesture, and when they start to blow into their shennai, all of India appears before us, their family history, that they are rightly proud of, as well as their own personalities as artists; they are strong individual personalities and I hope you’ll recognize that, particularly in the piece called “Malika-e-Sehra”, a reinterpretation of the themes composed for “Kali Gadji” (listen to “le vent”) and “Kali Sultana”. I had always wanted to hear these themes played on the shennai. You can compare the “French” version with this one. When one of the brothers records alone, he trusts the other one to guide him, note by note, and inversely; they have blind trust in each other and say they know each other completely. Their third brother, Anand, plays the tabla for their concerts. I love it when a culture supports individual expression, and provides such a sophisticated vocabulary to express emotions.

Aswhwani, Sanjeev and Titi at reharsal

Murad Ali, sarangi, like the Shankar brothers, he was awarded the prestigious Bismillah Khan Award 2010. Apart from illuminating the compositions with his brilliant bowing, he also proposed to read my dear Suraj Nath’s poetry for the introduction and the Indian version of “Ton doux visage” that is now called “Tumhara Chand Sa Chera”. He loves poetry, just like many Indians, and has already recorded his voice, mixed with his music and his own texts. It was almost five in the morning, we were still in the studio, when Murad offered to read the texts for me.  He dimmed the light in the recording cabin and recorded what you will hear when the Indian record is released.

Murad Ali reciting "Tumhara Chand Sa Chehra"

Mahalaxmi Iyer belongs to a family from South India. She learnt classical Carnatic and Hindustani singing at home, before going on to follow a career as a playback artist for  Bollywood actresses (see the extract of the film « Jhoom Barabar Jhoom » where you can hear her voice along with that of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s nephew, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan). Today she is one of the best-known voices in the country, although few know her or even what she looks like. I wrote the song « Farq Hai Kya » for her voice. During the studio session, she worked mainly with Vinayak Netke, the tabla player (who is used to marrying texts and music through his own experience of mixing Sanskrit literature and personal musical compositions). The result is amazing, there are very “South Asian” flavors in this song. Her kindness and her involvement in the project touched me deeply, as was the case with all my guests.

Mahalaxmi & Titi after session

My meeting with Sandip Chatterjee was marked by an evident fusion of our respective styles. You can hear it in a santoor/rubab duo, dedicated to the actress Madhubala. It was recorded in a single take.  There is also a clear relationship between the santoor and the bouzouki that I had never thought of.

Madhubala, whom we pay homage to in this duo, was an actress during the Golden age of India cinema, in the fifties; she was famous for her beauty and her acting. She died young, her unhappy life is well known (click here). Here is an extract from the film « Barsaat Ki Rat » where the character she is playing recognizes the voice of the poet she is in love with, on the radio, he is singing in a sufi qawaali* poetry competition. The text that is sung praises a love that overcomes convention, religious dogma and social mores.

BARSAAT KI RAT

Blue Frog Street

BLUE FROG the record company who is producing the CD was started by 5 partners: two musician-composers, Ashutosh Phatak and Dhruv Ghanekar, the film director Mahesh Mathai, the film producer Srila Chatterjee and Simran Mulchandani, a financial specialist.  The project took off with discussions between Simran and Ashu who deplored the lack of venues to play his kind of music in India. They started to look at how to create a place for the musicians, and Simran, who was working in Singapore at the time, developed the whole project, found the partners and the investors, and after a year’s work, the concert hall and the restaurant were opened in December 2007. The studios and the label came the following year. BLUE FROG, that is now very well known, is a Western kind of Indian space. Today, for this project, they welcomed a Westerner, inhabited by his meeting with Indian musical culture. This obvious contradiction is for me a sign that there is a shift occurring and I imagine that the managers of Blue Frog feel the same. We all need to be more open and put aside the clichés that shut us up in the attics of our common history. Their site : click here

Blue Frog studio Hall

Paras Nath is the son of Pandit Amar Nath, the grandson of Pandit Shiv Nath Prasad, nephew of Shri Dinesh Kumar and Pankaj Nath’s younger brother. They also play as a duo. He is steeped in the purest tradition but also plays the western transversal flute and plays with all kinds of musicians. At the age of 25, he is an exceptional virtuoso, as you will hear in his improvisations on the disc.

Paras Nath during rehearsal

There is so much more I could say.  I will leave you for the moment with this :

Qawwali*: You can listen to the qawwaali record« Jaadu » Titi recently recorded with Faiz Ali Faiz.  (click here). They will also be touring in 2011.

The first phase of this record project is taking place (currently) from the 18th of October till November 1st, in Mumbai (Bombay).

This is a glimpse of the different partners in this adventure (In a few days I’ll post some photos and videos to tell you more about what this musical session was like)

THE MUSICIANS:

The musicians whom I am working with every day at the moment, on these ‘river banks’ are from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Calcutta and Jaipur. We had met several times and I had sent them the compositions to work on for the recording. Each of them is a renowned musician, a specialist of their specific instrument, it’s a « dream team », I am incredibly lucky to have such great support for the Indian part.

Murad Ali Sarangi

(Winner of the prestigious  Bismillah Khan 2010 award)

website: http://www.myspace.com/muraadali

videos: check out his page on Facebook and YouTube

Vinay Mishra on the harmonium

(The favorite accompanist for many of today’s leading classical hindustani vocalists like the great Ulhas Kashalkar)

Vinayak Netke on the tabla

(A young virtuoso, he also has a great knowledge of vocal music)

Vinayak has a facebook page

Paras Nath on the bansuri

(A very young and amazing musician)

Sandip Chaterjee on the santoor

(We’ve been waiting a long time for the opportunity to play together with Sandip , I love the santoor, and he is a leading expert of the instrument.)

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/santoor73 / Sandip has a facebook page

The brothers Sanjeev and Ashwani Shankar on shennai.

(an incredible duet, award winners of Bismillah Khan 2010 prize)

website: http://www.shankarshehnai.com/

Dino Banjara on percussion

(Son of the dancer Gulabi Sapera Kalbeliya, he’s already well known  in Europe as we have often played together there).

Mahalaxmi Iyer vocals

A singer with both a classical Carnatic and hindustani culture, she is  very well known as a playback singer ‘for Bollywood films’, one of the most famous voices in this style.)

Aparna Panshikar vocals, a student of the great Kishori Amonkar, a specialist of Khyal singing and ghazals, poetry set to music.

website: http://www.aparnapanshikar.com/

Imran Khan vocals, he bleongs to the “Delhi Gharana (Delhi school style)

Video of Imran Khan (right, blue kurta, with his brother Ahmed, left, in concert)

RECORD LABEL:

As part of my Indian tour (click here for the story of one of the tours) , I was invited several times to play in Mumbai (Bombay), the first time was at the Tata Theatre, with Ze Luis Nascimento, Francis Varis and Gulabi Sapera.The last two times I have performed at  BLUE FROG . This  is a very popular and dynamic venue in Mumbai, presenting a lot of Western music. They also have a production label and have collaborated on several projects with John McLaughlin.

They are producing the first part of my triptych

MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS

I have already composed the music for the India disc, with unreleased tracks designed specifically for this production, as well as musical themes already played in France, I want to challenge the music by creating an Indian interpretation.

An example of the reinterpretation of a theme: “Your sweet face” is on the record ” These waves that love raises” (live version as well as in “Anita!”)  with my guitar, Ze Luis Nascimento’s percussion , accordeon and bass Francis Varis, Kalou Stalin. In its Indian version, it will be played by Murad Ali (sarangi), Vinay Mishra (harmonium), Paras Nath (bansuri), Sandip Chatterjee (santoor) and Vinayak Netke (tabla), a voice will recite a  text in Hindi. The new name of this song will be “Tumhara Chand Sa Chehra”. The sound of the instruments and the musical phrasing certainly alters  the color of this theme. It will be a surprise for me to play in this new context. Below, the original version until the Indian version is ready:

TUMHARA CHAND SA CHEHRA

TEXTS

I worked with a team of writers from the Embassy of France in Delhi (Jatinder Singh and Bhola Aneesh) for the translation into Hindi and Urdu of the poetry  written in French for my compositions. These are original texts that will be sung by Mahalaxmi Iyer, Aparna Panshikar and Imran Khan.

Jatinder Singh, Aneesh Bhola and Renuka George

THE FILM

Renuka George, Indian documentary filmmaker, was preparing her new film “USTAD ASAD ALI KHAN – A PORTRAIT” around the last master of the rudra veena, when I met her in Delhi. In 1993 she had already made  a lovely portrait of the Dagar family, masters of Dhrupad singing, “DAGARVANI” and “KATHAKALI” a portrait of a Kathakali school in Kerala. She will follow the adventure on  these “River Banks” in India as well as in Morocco and Turkey. She will be directing the film and the DVD that will accompany the final album package.

SUPPORT IN INDIA

Bénédicte Alliot from the cultural service of the Embassy of France (since replaced by Aruna Adiceam), Sanjoy K Roy of Teamwork Productions, Myriam Kryger of the Alliance Française in Delhi, Anne Dubourg and the  Alliance  Française in Mumbai, Renuka George, all the Blue Frog team, Marielle Morin and CEDUST, are amongst the many people  in India, who are assisting with and participating in the project. (We will come back to this as as our work progresses).