All music pictures were shot live in concert with little or no post production work.
The KSV is a residential school for destitute children, focuses on integrating music and academic education to inculcate a holistic outlook and ability in these kids. Many of them are orphans or from homes that struggle to provide a single meal a day. Here, they are given a roof over their head, food, healthcare and clothing, all free of cost. Located an hour away from Dharwad (in the South Indian state of Karnataka), the primary focus is providing an education that teaches tradition while also preparing students for contemporary living. The school was started by a Canadian non-profit organisation (Young Musicians of the World) but is comprised of multi-cultural volunteers.
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Rumbling through the villages and fields of Madhya Pradesh in a pink bus with a bunch of folk musicians, who break into full blooded song at every turn has its advantages. Sewn together by the common thread of Kabir's couplets and philosophies, Prahlad Tipanya, Mura Lala, Hemant Chauhan, Mukthiyar Ali, Kaluram, Parbat Jogi and a host of other singers, percussionists and harmonium players made this musical extravaganza truly Indian and truly brilliant, as a performance and an experience for all involved.
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52nd edition of the longest running jazz festival in the world. Three days of musical bliss in Monterey, California. Featured an all star line-up of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter,Joshua Redman, Brian Blade, Cassandra Wilson, Christian McBride Band, Matt Wilson, Maceo Parker, Derek Trucks Band, Ledisi, Bill Frisell, Nancy Wilson, Terrance Blanchard, Barbara Dennerlein, Kurt Elling, Kyle Eastwood,John Patittuci, Jamie Cullum, Vinnie Colaiuta, Nathan East and more.
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Mitha Khan Jat and Sumar Khan from the village of Bagadia in the Banni region of Kutch sat bewildered in a tiny segment of the sprawling Sophia auditorium stage. Even the mics and the audience in their Sunday best seemed like an alien nation to them. When they started singing and plucking their dhamburos, the audience let loose a collective gasp. The Waee style isn’t for the faint hearted. The music is composed to the poetry of Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, and requires an open mind, a sensitive ear, and a yearning for understanding cultures far removed from your own. Divided into a non-metric wailing called the baith (reminiscent of the Mongolian throat singers and the Sufi singers of the Middle East and Egypt) and a more structured section called the Waee, they demand your complete attention from the moment they begin singing. The unearthly nature of their note progressions might have caused a little initial discomfort due to our own impatient ignorance. But as the performance wore on a meditative air took over and we found ourselves, eyes half closed, and mind cleansed by the voices of the last two remaining Indian Waee performers.
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Roger Waters to Eric Truffaz, Beyonce to Iron Maiden, Herbie Hancock to the Black Eyed Peas, here's a selection of International musicians I've shot over the years.
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Featuring Parvathy Baul, one of the few performing female bauls, the 71 year old Narayan Chandra Adhikari all in saffron, The patchwork tapestery of the bearded Shyam Sunder Das Baul and the Sreekhol (percussion) sophistry of young Bidyut Rajbongshi. What does Baul mean? Rootless, with no attachment? Air, like the very deep breath of meditation that takes us to divine salvation? Or is it just madness, a crazed, unconditional love for the One that sustains us all? Like all means of finding truth within and without, the tradition of Baul is an organism that encompasses all those answers. Baul has its roots in West Bengal, India, and is of the same brand of rising-above-religion mysticism as Sufism. Hindu Baul practitioners have had fakirs for gurus and vice versa, enabling this form to truly look at the individual soul placed in the larger picture without the constraints of popular religious dogmas. Its very roots lie in a rebellion against the horrors that the caste system entails. This is truly a community for anyone, woman or man, rich or poor, Guru or shishya. It doesn’t matter if the words, performance, or energy draw you to the Baul. Unlike the moth to the flame, the light that they live in and so eagerly share is one that can lift us beyond the limitations of our existential angst. The light that can help us touch beatitude. The light of life, love and the infinite.
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Combining passion and tradition, the two primary branches of Indian Classical music (Hindustani and Carnatic) continue to sow and reap new talent by the bushel. And then there is the old guard.
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Nascent but contagiously effervescent, the Indian Rock scene is slowly but surely coming of age with international standard acts like Thermal And A Quarter and Pink Noise.
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Folk music is a very unexplored and under represented form in India, although Bollywood and other film industries borrow and are heavily inspired by these traditional varieties of Indian music. In terms of music, performance and costume there are few places in the world that match the range and depth of Indian folk arts.
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The biggest international music festival India has ever seen is an old hat in England, where it's been around since the early 80s. Over two days of lush and varied music, electronic to carnatic, spread out on that little known North Goa Paradise, Asvem beach. With Cold Cut, Norman Jay, The Mad Professor, Vikku Vinayakaram, DJ Hexstatic, Mixmaster Morris, Sheila Chandra and others.
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In 2007 Buddy Guy, Walter Trout and Alan Parsons for three days of blistering blues
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