For the Love of Indian Music

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

A Russian sings Dard-e-Disco

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2007/nov/14video4.htm

When the media delegation accompanying the prime minister to Russia was invited to a dinner at the Khwaja Nasiruddin restaurant in Moscow on Sunday night by the ministry of external affairs's charming Joint Secretary (External Publicity) Navtej Sarna (fans of his first novel We Weren't Lovers Like That, look out for his next novel in April), one didn't think one's breath would be taken away.

Media dinners are traditionally gabfests where we journos hold forth on what the government needs to do to the people who make policy (overheard at this event: one journalist telling one very important policy-maker, "The nuclear deal is dead! It is time you moved on") or occasions where we pin down likely sources and pump them for information (key target at this dinner: India's ambassador Prabhat Shukla, who played a stellar role as our high commissioner in Australia in securing Mohammad Haneef's release; alas, mum was the word for the suave diplomat on what tactics he used to help Haneef). After a bevy of belly dancers (you can't really think Middle Eastern food without such accompanying entertainment) had performed their cameos along came Elman RajSur, a Russian native of the Central Asian republic of Azerbaijan.

In Russia, where Hindi films are now clearly out of favour, the young man displayed an amazing command over Bollywood song, rendering several hits from across generations.

Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

From Russia, with love for Hindi songs

Vijay Singh in Mumbai

Last Updated: March 25, 2005

Russian artiste Elmar Rajsur, 31, is very delighted to be in India, the land of Hindi. He earns his living in Russia by singing Hindi songs.

Rajsur is touring with the Russian circus, which is currently in India, on an invitation from the circus organiser.

He sings Hindi songs during circus performances on public demand. He speaks in Hindi with security personnel, obviously enjoying every bit of it.

However, he hates it when he is referred to as a circus artiste. That is because, he says, he is a singer and not a circus artiste.

Elmar talked about his love for Hindi, Hindi songs and Raj Kapoor with Senior Correspondent Vijay Singh.

When did you start learning Hindi songs?

I started learning Hindi songs when I was in class 9. 'Main shayar to nahi..', from the film Bobby, was the first Hindi song I learnt.

How did you get interested in Hindi movies and songs despite being in Russia?

In Russia, Raj Kapoor is very well known. People liked him because of his movies like Awaraa and Shri 420. I started to learn Hindi songs after watching such movies (Mera joota hai japani was very famous in Russia).

I liked Raj Kapoor for one more reason. We share the same date of birth -- December 14.

How did you perfect your Hindi diction?

During my school days, I realised if I wanted to make singing Hindi songs my career then I had to have a very clear voice and perfect pronunciation. Otherwise nobody would listen to my songs.

I started to follow the flow of songs and get my pronunciation right.

I did this on my own. I have never taken anybody's help in India.

In 1985, when Raj Kapoor's last movie as a director, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, was released, I listened to the songs of the film. I liked the voice of the male singer. I was unaware who the singer was. But later I learnt it was the voice of Suresh Wadkar.

I could recognise Lata Mangeshkar's voice but not of all singers.

When did you master Hindi?

I started to sing Hindi songs in 1979, and after four years, I started to sing Hindi songs in a clear and fluent manner.

Which singer do you like the most?

Suresh Wadkar is my favourite singer. I also like Hari Haran, Sonu Nigam and Adnan Sami.

Why do you like Suresh Wadkar?

My voice is similar to his.

How much time does it take you to learn a new song?

I usually learn songs by listening to them once. I find it difficult to sing A R Rahman's and Kishore Kumar's songs because of their voice flow. But I like their songs very much.

Which song gives you utmost satisfaction as a singer?

Satrangi re (Dil Se), sung by Sonu Nigam, is very difficult to sing at live shows. But I have sung it live, and that gave me satisfaction.

How many times have you visited India?

This is my first visit.

How do you feel singing Hindi songs in India?

I used to sing Hindi songs for Indians abroad. This is the first time I am singing Hindi songs for Indians in India. It's a pleasure.

How do you make yourself good at singing?

I sleep only four hours a day. All the other hours are devoted to learning new Hindi songs.

What is your means of survival in Russia?

Hindi songs are my means. I sing Hindi songs at hotels. In Moscow alone, we have 20 Indian restaurants where I sing.

I also perform on special occasions for Indians and at official functions. In Russia, everybody calls me Suresh, as my voice is similar to Suresh Wadkar.

How do you find Indians in Russia?

In Russia, people treat me like an Indian.

If some Indian does something wrong, I am criticised for that. People say 'your Indian' did such and such a thing.

In India, many people do not believe when I say I am Russian. They ask me for my passport.

I am in India on a three-month visa, and I am a singer not a circus artiste. I feel bad when people introduce me to someone as a circus artiste. There are huge difference between a singer and a circus artiste.

Explain why 'Rajsur' is your surname.

I have Raj in my surname, because I was born on December 14 and Sur because my voice is similar to that of Suresh Wadkar. Sur also means good voice.

Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago

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Summer3

@Summer3

Trailblazer

+ 2

Posted: 17 years ago

Great article Bob. This is quite an eye opener that a foreinger can appreciate and sing Hindi songs. He is truly gifted.👏 👏 👏

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

In love with Indian music S.SIVAKUMAR The Hindu

Passion Steve and Merrie are here to learn more about Indian tradition, music and culture.

Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

THE 'SEEKERS': Steve and Merrie Brantsegs. Fell in love, with India — its music and its culture. The Brantsegs — Steve and Merrie — are here in Chennai and have become part of the Music Festival. One found them soaking in concerts tears in their eyes. ''There is no need to understand the words. The music is simply moving," they say. Their home is Minnesota and music has no doubt existed in Minnesota from the time the place has been inhabited by people. Their traditional music — Dakota — has voice and drums and dance, all coming together. What actually brought them to India? Happy Fate. It was a sudden decision to visit India. What was then the purpose of their visit and what has been achieved? They have come here as "seekers" to know more about the foundation on which our music has been based and built and acquire authentic knowledge of Carnatic music. Main aim Steve's main aim was to understand Indian tradition, which he firmly believes in. Steve is a self-taught guitarist, but he quickly recalls that his grandfather was a musician. Like all others he too was doing all sorts of things at the age of 15, but then took a conscious decision to become a "purist," yes, a musician. And this provided the "rigid focus" which combined well with an open mind and heart as well. Merrie, his wife, interrupts to say that Steve has performed on David Letterman's show many times with his band. David Letterman is the famous host of the late night show on CBS and this is one of the most watched shows in the U.S. She also adds that Prince once wanted to do a "jam" session with Steve. Prince (he calls himself "The Artist," now) is one of the biggest names in the music business in the States and is known worldwide among pop/rock fans. Steve also pays tribute to John Lennon by organising an event in Minneapolis where musicians play their heart out for hours and this has been a sincere happening for the past 27 years. No division in music For Steve there is no division in music and by this he means its universality; he wants to be clear and honest about tradition; firmly believes that it is possible to integrate the modern with the traditional. Steve, at present is learning veena from Nirmala Rajasekhar. For a person who has been "acquainted" with the instrument only for a year, Steve really knows a lot, says the teacher. Steve has this advantage — already a guitarist he has picked up with alacrity.Merrie can draw and paint. She had read about the Bay of Bengal, tigers of India and loved to see all of them. She would love to live in India. "I Love India," she chanted several times.

The Brantsegs will be carrying with them an electronic veena "sunodha vinodhini." Their candid comments: The audience behaviour is annoying for the couple, people walking around now then, disturbing the concentration of the performer. Why is there no proper testing of acoustics before a concert? Steve wants somebody to answer. Our lack of proper "acoustic sense" concerns them. Steve even volunteers to help on this issue.

Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago

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Summer3

@Summer3

Trailblazer

+ 2

Posted: 17 years ago

When the music is good words are superflous, but a fine voice does help. I too listen also to Japanese songs, Chinese (Cantonese,Hokkien, Mandarin), Thai, French, Italian and other languages and I must say that they are all FANTABULOUS. In each the spirit is intact.😆

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Arun

@arun_8687

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

Bob Da, Thanks for this wonderful thread 😊

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punjini

@punjini

Dazzler

Posted: 17 years ago

Originally posted by: Qwest
Explain why 'Rajsur' is your surname.

I have Raj in my surname, because I was born on December 14 and Sur because my voice is similar to that of Suresh Wadkar. Sur also means good voice.

Zee should invite Rajsur to Little Champs as a guest judge! He would be thrilled to meet Suresh Wadekar in person. It's not necessary to always invite celebrities to be guest judges. He is a Russian who is familiar with Hindi songs, so the element of novelty will be there.

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Kumar

@trishancku

Voyager

Posted: 17 years ago

Melodious elange

Neha Jain Posted online: Tuesday , November 20, 2007 at 12:00:00

She grew up in Cameroon, Africa. But Marie-Philomne Nga was always enamoured with the artistic and musical richness of India.

Says she: "As a child, I was extremely fascinated with India, in the sense that some abstract aspect of the country drew me closer to its culture. I felt like I already knew the place, and realised that it was basically the bond of similarity. Africans and Indians have an unique connection and share similar dispositions," says Nga, who performed in Pune on Sunday evening. She is avidly inclined towards the Indian culture, be it in the form of music, dance or old Hindi flicks.

So what prompted her to blend the music of the two countries? "As I said, there is a co-rrelation in our respective natures, which finds resonance in our music. The beats associated with South Indian music, especially Hyderabadi, sound much like those akin to the Central African genre of music, while the North and East Indian music reminds one of West African music. Experimentation in this field is possible and hence, the thought of assimilating the two forms," says the actress.

Fascinated by the melodies she discovered in South India, Marie decided to participate in a training programme on Carnatic music, and soon began to chisel her proficiency at the mridangam ."Last year, on my tour to Kochi, I thought of the concept of amalgamating Indian classical music with African folk, even though I was working with another band then. When I was back to Kolkata at Alliance De Franciase, we found new musicians and formed a new band," she explains.

Nga also seems to seek her spiritual fulfillment from Indian music. "For me my work is my religion and I worship God in every form. The kind of peace and serenity Indian music has connects me to the Almighty, " says she, even as she tells us of her devotion to spiritual guru Amma or Mata Amritanandamayi.

Adds the singer who wishes to pass the message of equality all around the world, "Whatever the colour of our skins, our souls are similar. God is one, and for him all his children are at par. " she drives home the message.

In her concert tour to India, she campaigned melodies of Europe, Africa, and India. Nga along with her musicians from Paris, Abidjan and Kolkata, revisited compilations of popular Francophone authors, while she crooned in Sanskrit, Hindi, Malayalam, French and Bti. And now her plans back home? "Well, I have a school-going daughter, so I am just looking forward to spending some quality time with her and of course, work follows next."

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Melodious-elange/241 046/

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

For the Love of Indian Music

Southern Connecticut State University

May 2006

Associate Professor Stan Scott plays the tanpura, a drone instrument that resembles a sitar except that it has no frets. The drone is an essential part of traditional Indian music, creating a continuous sounding of one or more notes providing the harmonic base in a performance.

That is about the best explanation Stan Scott, an adjunct professor of music, can offer concerning his dedication to the classical music of a country and a people half a world away.

"I have such a passion for this music," says Scott, an aficionado, student, teacher and singer of North Indian classical music. "It was sort of like falling in love."

Scott grew up in a house filled with the familiar Western classical music played by his mother, a piano teacher, and her students. In his teens, however, he also discovered the music of India's Ravi Shankar. Immediately taken by its sophistication and emotional power, Scott tried to imitate parts of the music on his guitar.

For the uninitiated, North Indian classical music ranges from slow and meditative to pulsing and ecstatic, Scott explains. A single song can stretch over 45 minutes, beginning slowly and picking up speed and passion as it goes along.

"One of the things most appealing about the music is that it is some of the slowest, most intense meditative music on the planet," Scott says.

The music is improvisational, with great range and variety in tempo and emotion, a showcase for the virtuosity of its vocalists.

In 1971, Scott was studying voice at Bennington College, where he heard the recorded melodies of Rajdulari Ali Akbar Kahn. The woman's astonishing vocals sealed his interest in North Indian classical music and set him on a hitchhiking journey to Wesleyan University in Middletown, which had a highly regarded Indian music program with resident musician instructors.

Friends immediately put him in touch with a musical guru, Laxmi G. Tewari, and thus began what has become a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, experience and opportunities to perform the sounds of the Indian culture.

Over the years, Scott has played with and learned from some of India's best classical musicians from coast to coast in the United States, as well as in India and around the world. He also has made a career out of Indian music as a private lessons teacher of banjo, mandolin and guitar at Wesleyan.

One of the highlights of Scott's career as both a teacher and performer came at the end of 2005 when he was invited to teach at the Bhatkhande Music Institute in Lucknow, India. It is the oldest and largest university in North India that is dedicated to music. A Southern travel grant helped support the trip.

Scott taught Western and world music for three weeks to classes of university students and professors at Bhatkhande. Despite warnings from local faculty that attendance would likely drop, the class remained intact through the entire period. "They attended religiously," Scott says of his students.

Scott set out to help the Bhatkhande students recognize and appreciate the similarities between Western classical music and their own. Both have seven notes in the scale, 12 half steps in the octave and rhythmic structures based on combinations of two, three and four beats. The classical music of Northern India also features themes of love and religion, similar to the themes and thematic evolution of Western classical music.

"In my classes here and there, I stress the great many things Western music and Indian music have in common," Scott says.

It is not an easy lesson for either American or Indian students, he admits. The music of the West and India evolved in different directions over the centuries, making it more difficult to appreciate their commonalities. Whereas Western classical music developed rich systems of harmony and fixed compositions, the evolution of Indian classical music featured systems of melody and structure and improvisation.

"Even after three weeks of instruction, students and other professors were asking, 'Can you really say that they have anything in common?'" Scott says. "The message is difficult to grasp because of superficial differences between Western and Indian classical music. It's hard to perceive even for experienced musicians."

Although he has made numerous trips to India during the past 30 years, the most recent trip was special because it allowed Scott to experience and appreciate what it is like to be a professor in India.

"The respect shown to teachers is extraordinary," he says. "In the U.S., professors and students are very informal. In India, it is radically different. There, students touch their teachers' feet as a gesture of respect," Scott explains.

Left: Scott performing classLeft: Scott performing classical Indian music at Ramakrishna Mission in Lucknow, a northern city in India near Nepal.

During his latest trip to India, Scott also enjoyed the opportunity to perform for his hosts, which he describes as a "wonderful experience, " adding that his Indian audiences were very supportive and encouraging. In India, a Hindustani vocal performance by a Westerner is "not unique, but it is unusual," Scott says.

Besides teaching at Wesleyan and Southern, Scott directs the Rangila School of Music in Middletown. He also has taught at Yale, Colgate, Clark and Brown universities.

Scott completed his doctoral dissertation on Hindustani classical singing in 1997 at Wesleyan.

Scott is also is interested in Irish folk music. He and his wife, Dorothea Hast, front their own Irish band and recently co-wrote a text, "Music in Ireland," published by Oxford University Press. Hast is an ethnomusicologist and instructor at the Greenstreet Art Center in Middletown.

Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

#10

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So what has your curiosity yielded in terms of India? We've got only two cities, and one travel day I know culture and entertainment wise it's a whole scene out there. There is so much go- ing on there. So I guess it'll just be a minute-by-minute experience. Both me and my wife love Indian food, so we're also looking for- ward to that. Indian music.. I don't know much but I love what would be consid- ered a cliched Indian sound. We all follow the Beatles Indian influence with Ravi Shankar and all that. My partner Gerry (Beckley) is checking out Indian music right now. He is always a step ahead of me. On working with the legendary Beatles producer George Martin.. He's a wonderful man; we're fortunate to be able to get him (George) in- volved in our work. It was 1974, Beatles had broken up and there was a low in his careen He was working with Paul McCartney, I think it was a James Bond (Live And Let Die). We went to England and did our first project. We just got along very well.. Also it didn't hurt at all that we under- stood the British sensibili- ties as we lived in England and also started the band there.. He is 81 years old now, but he is very alert.. What do you miss the most about that time and space? There was sense of commu- nity at least with the Cali- fornian bands. We all worked together in a com- mon direction. It was very idyllic, a bit nalve. We cared for each other and about the environment.. But that could just be youth. I do miss that feel- ing. You want to be part of something much bigger than the song. We still are in touch with many of those artists. It all comes back on stage, playing that stuff you created in the 70's. Along with early success, you guys also got criticism in abundance.. Yes, we received a lot of lukewarm reviews. We've never pretended that we were anything more than a part of the progression. We were basically reflecting our generation and our times.. When we came out and we were so big, we were 19 years old, we had a no 1 record and our albums were big. So the critics were thinking who are these young upstarts kind of thing.. But, we've cer- tainly gained a lot of re- spect over the years. On Here and Now.. It's our first album after nine years with al1new ma- terial. We wanted to record earlier but it's tough get- ting labels interested. We've got some younger guys.. James Iha (former member: Smashing Pump- kins) and Adam Schle- singer (Fountains of Wayne and Ivy) to produce it. Jim James and Ryan Adams pitched in on the guitar. The album certainly has aspects of our earlier recordings. We've got a lot of vocal harmonies and a lot of gui- tar and our traditional f are. Since 80's every time we get into a project, I find some other guitar players there, so I hardly get to play as much as I used to earlier Although I play live and when I do that a certain au- diences' say 'You mean you play all of your instru- ments', and I say 'Yes we do!' It's different for musi- cians today, they have a lot of technical support along with a different way of functioning. Is the growing use of tech- nology in music today a bane or a boon? I think you have to say it's a boon. It's a tool that musi- cians can use, it's very user friendly We have digital home studios and the abili- ty to manipulate sound and edit and change things. It's just incredible. A young person can't imagine what a struggle it was to work with tapes.. That ways, it's a boon. One thing it has done that it has flooded the world with music, it's more than you can wade through. It's a terrific cre- ative outlet for everyone. I don't think you can put the genie back in the bottle.. it's a matter of taking the good and leaving the bad.

Edited by Qwest - 17 years ago

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For the Love of Indian Music

Melodious elange

For the Love of Indian Music

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