Fusing musical ideas
DEEPIKA ARWIND
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The KENSRI School’s fusion performance was packed with excitement, with eight competent musicians on stage
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Photos: Murali kumar k.
HIGH SPIRITS The show was a coming together of musical cultures
The word “fusion” in is either passé or too new and generic to address a musical phenomenon that has been taking place since the 1970s and 1980s, perhaps even earlier. Watching eight different, seasoned musicians put together a show
for the KENSRI School International’s leadership conclave confirmed this. Fusion was out of the window – this was a coming together of musical cultures that had been working together for years, with extreme familiarity. Although all eight musicians had never played together, they had performed in smaller groups in different parts of the world, especially Europe.
Essentially the result of drummer Ramesh Shotham’s – who was fondly addressed as India’s musical link to Europe — networking, the Mani family – T.A.S. Mani, Ramamani and the young Karthik Mani, pianist Mike Herting from Germany, Scott Stroman from the U.K on vocals, Zoltan Lantos from Budapest on the violin, Ronan Guilfoyle from Ireland on the acoustic guitar, and Aly Kieta from the Ivory Coast on the balafon (a West African percussion instrument), found themselves on one spectacular stage, after two days of “jamming”, followed by plenty of email exchange.
The show opened with much energy, and the purely classical centre stage setup with the Mani’s merged beautifully with those around them. Mr. Shotham and the younger Mani swapped the ghatam and the drums between each other.
Every piece that lasted anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes, featured solos, giving each of the musicians to show off their skill. Lantos’ solo was the first, and there is no doubt that his familiarity with Indian classical music helps him render a flawless classical piece himself. Sometimes strumming the violin to create a variety in sound, Lantos’s most breathtaking performance was his experiments with tempo.
Each time Ramamani sang, violin made an appearance, and slow strains of Herting’s piano could be heard creating a magical sound.
The Mani family’s openness towards other music, apart from their genuine skill of course, has clearly taken them far. Just the way the younger Mani layered his mother’s classical solo with the drums, or how the mridangam and the balafon played in harmony were examples of that.
The balafon, played by Kieta had a sparkling sound.He, in fact, built the instrument himself, and while he didn’t play on all numbers, he certainly elevated the ones he did play on.
In a tune called “Guru” which was created by Mike Herting to inspire teachers, every instrument saw a chance to merge with the other. What began as a soulful, deliberate piece exploded into something overwhelming. Herting’s eccentricity on the piano, his impulse and love for improvisation came through starkly in “Guru”. Guilfoyle, who is an expert with rhythm created a tune called “Five Cities” as part of the Five Cities tour he had done with Shotham years ago. With Guilfyole, the guitar is a fluid thing, something he treats with such comfort that it responds in equally wonderful ways, and five cities, in which he played the least was an urgent, bustling piece – almost Guilfoyle’s reading of the country he says he loves most.
The younger Mani had a fan following of his own and he played the ghatam with great skill as he played the drums with great passion. The older Mani steered clear of any solo spotlight, but kept the show together even as he stayed in the background.
Whether it was Stroman’s harmonising with Ramamani or it was Shotham’s precise jazz drumming, there was hardly a dull moment in the show. In fact, more shows like this for a mainstream Bangalore audience might be a good idea to introduce musicians who have ‘fused’ music for years now.
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