There are many today have a very humdrum view towards most forms of classical or folk music. And who could blame them, the mention of classical music paints a dull picture of some elderly folks sitting on a monotonous stage, playing instruments that only the connoisseurs of music will truly appreciate?
Fortunately, though, it's no longer as droning as some of us sadly assume it to be. The legends like Ravi Shankar, Alla Rakha, Shivkumar Sharma and along with others, who put the Indian classical music at a pedestal, come from a very different era. This generation gap has perhaps led to a difficulty in the appreciation of music. But the next generation of classical musician has risen up to the occasion. Although having been trained in the traditional way, the outward influence of other forms of music has definitely influenced the way they perform. Thus offering us some extraordinary tunes. Here are but a few names from the list of many artists who have given classical and folk music a new twist.
Anoushka Shankar
Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar is a singular figure in the Indian classical and progressive world music scenes. Her dynamic and spiritual musicality has garnered several prestigious accolades, including five Grammy Award nominations, recognition as the youngest and first female recipient of a British House of Commons Shield, credit as an Asian Hero by TIME Magazine, and a Songlines Best Artist Award. Most recently, she became one of the first five female composers to have been added to the UK A-level music syllabus.
She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar and the half-sister of Norah Jones. Anoushka began training on the sitar with her father at the age of seven. As part of her training, she began accompanying him on the tanpura at his performances from the age of ten, soaking up the music and becoming acclimatised to the stage
Listen to: Rise (2005), Traveller (2011)
Talvin Singh
Talvin Singh was classically trained on the tabla after playing it since he was five. But, on returning to England after two years of training in India, he discovered that producers in England were not inclined to the table. So, he began to explore new forms of music that could incorporate the table but appeal to the younger audience at the time. He rejected most of his learning when he founded the Anokha club night at East London's Blue Note. There drum'n'bass DJs and Asian punk bands went head to head with the amped-up sounds of his tabla and percussion. He is now known as the father of Asian electronica and is respected for the fact that he introduced the concepts of Indian classical music to western pop, dance and jazz towards the end of the 80s and through the 90s. In 1990 Singh conceived the Tablatronic, a hybrid electronic/analog tabla (drum) which uses a rare internal microphone system.
Before he founded Anokha, Singh worked as a musician, with a diverse cast of artists -- Sun Ra, Björk, Future Sound of London, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and the Indigo Girls, among others. He is also the winner of two of the UK’s most prestigious music prizes, The South Bank Prize and the Mercury Prize.
Listen to: Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground (1997), OK (1998), Sweet Box (2008)
Taufiq Qureshi
A very versatile artist, he plays a variety of percussion instruments like djembe, duff, bongos and batajon. Taufiq is the first artist to have developed a unique rhythmic language to adapt the tabla syllables on the Djembe. A dedicated self-learner, Taufiq soon discovered his greatest asset; ‘a feel for the world of sound with all its intricate nuances’. This quality makes him one of the most sought after rhythm-programmers, arranger-composers and percussionists in the world of studio recordings. Taufiq’s trademark style incorporates body and vocal percussions to create unique rhythmic motifs spanning across cultures. Born in Mumbai, to legendary tabla player, Ustad Alla Rakha, Taufiq Qureshi received guidance from Ghatam Vidhwan, Pandit Vikku Vinayakram. His eldest brother is tabla player, Ustad Zakir Hussain.
Listen to: Rhydhun (2000), TaDhaa- An Expression Of High Energy (2011)
Karsh Kale
Born to Indian parents in America, Karsh Kale fuses electronic dance and break beats with Indian folk and classical music. He’s predominately a table player, but manages to bring a lot of Indian classical sounds, especially wind instruments, to a discerning global audience. His debut focused a lot on the sarangi and the bansuri and he continues to remix and create great music that transcends beyond genres and styles. Now he performs with live ensembles like The Karsh Kale Collective and has collaborated with artistes like Sting, Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones, Anoushka Shankar and others. He even performed at the White House in 2013 and was introduced to the audience by former president Barack Obama.
Listen to: Realise (2001), Breathing Under Water (2007) and the collaboration with Tabla Beat Science “ Tala Matrix (2000)
