what i listen?

 

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Bombay the Hard Way plays like the soundtrack to some imaginary 1970s B-films with names like Shaft’s Bad-Ass Pilgrimage To India or Ganges Ghetto Payback. Featuring the music of Indian composers (and brothers) Anandji and Kalyanji Shah, who wrote and produced soundtracks for the so-called “Brownsploitation” films made in India’s “Bollywood” during the 60s and 70s, this saffron-funk project is the brain-child of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Bay Area producer / remixer of Dr. Octagon fame, with additional beats provided by the immensely talented DJ Shadow. The end product is a potent cross-pollination of Secret-Agent-Man guitar themes, Blaxploitation grooves, jazzy horn and flute riffs, hip-hop beats and loops, and traditional Indian instrumentation. While this East meets West mixture is incredibly funky, there are few innovations or surprises within. Beyond the sweeping and intense orchestrations of the opening track, “Bombay 405 Miles,” the album tends to value mood and groove over tunes. That said, there are still some particularly strong standouts. “The Good, The Bad, And The Chutney” and “Inspector Jay From Dehli” are mysterious Spy-thriller grooves, loaded with sitars, spacey synths, orchestral breaks, and DJ Shadow’s laid back beats. Like much of the album, these two songs are heavily spiced Indian approximations of the cinematic funk found on Blaxploitation soundtracks by Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and Willie Hutch. “Professor Pyarelal” is a deliciously slow Barry White-styled groove that blends funky flute, bass, and drums with atmospheric synthesizer and jazz piano. The album’s only song with lyrics, “Ganges A Go-Go,” features a sound straight out of the Indian quarter of London’s “swinging 60s” scene. Over a driving Go-Go beat and Eastern-flavored horn arrangements, a handful of male and female singers (with cute Indian accents) belt out the lines, “I got no time to think / Cuz’ I need somebody to love / Yeah! / Baby, I love you so / But you can’t love me more / Why don’t you hold me closer / And I’ll give you more / Yeah!” With lyrics like that, this song is destined to wind up on one of my more kitchy MustHear.com mixes. Throughout the album, there are fun snatches of dialogue lifted straight out of vintage “brownsploitation” films. These digressions add to the overall enjoyment, helping to make Bombay the Hard Way a classic party record for the new millennium.

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Great album. The song nr 5 (Keertanam (Bhukhana Bhujanka) (Lord Shiva’s Description Song) is a great piece.

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Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitarist and composer is India’s most esteemed musical Ambassador and a singular phenomenon in the classical music worlds of East and West. As a performer, composer, teacher and writer, he has done more for Indian music than any other musician. He is well known for his pioneering work in bringing Indian music to the West. This however, he did only after long years of dedicated study under his illustrious guru Baba Allaudin Khan and after making a name for himself in India.

Always ahead of his time, Ravi Shankar has written two concertos for sitar and orchestra, violin-sitar compositions for Yehudi Menuhin and himself, music for flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, music for Hosan Yamamoto, master of the Shakuhachi and Musumi Miyashita – Koto virtuoso, and collaborated with Phillip Glass (Passages). George Harrison produced and participated in two record albums, “Shankar Family & Friends” and “Festival of India” composed by Ravi Shankar. He has composed extensively for films and Ballets in India, Canada, Europe and the United States, including Charly, Gandhi and Apu Trilogy. Ravi Shankar is an honourary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a member of the United Nations International Rostrum of composers. He has received many awards and honours from his own country and from all over the world, including fourteen doctorates, the Padma Vibhushan, Desikottam, the Magsaysay Award from Manila, two Grammy’s, the Fukuoka grand Prize from Japan, the Crystal award from Davos, with the title ‘Global Ambassador’ to name some. In 1986 he was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of Parliament. His recording “Tana Mana”, released on the private Music label in 1987, brought Mr. Shankar’s music into the “New age” with its unique method of combining traditional instruments with electronics.

Ravi Shankar with Ali Akbar Khan

In the period of the awakening of the younger generation in the mid 60’s, Ravi Shankar gave three memorable concerts – Monterey Pop Festival, Concert for Bangla Desh and The Woodstock Festival. Mr. Shankar has several disciples and many of them are now very succesful concert artists and composers.

The love and respect he commands both in India and in the West is unique in the annals of the history of music. In 1989, this remarkable musician celebrated his 50th year of concertising, and the city of Birmingham Touring Opera Company commissioned him to do a Music Theatre (Ghanashyam – a broken branch) which created history on the British arts scene.

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Ustad Sultan Khan is one of the foremost sarangi players of India, renowned for the emotional depth of his playing, and his extraordinary technical and melodic control over this difficult string instrument. He is one of the representatives of the Indore Gharana, made famous by Ustad Amir Khan. A scion of illustrious lineage of sarangi players, beginning his training at age seven, he learned the rudiments from his father, Ustad Gulab Khan who was both an accomplished sarangi player and a vocalist. A little wonder then that the Ustad like his father, always punctuates his concerts with vocal Amir khani nuances. When he picks up the sarangi to lilting Sargams where he has left off vocally, the succeeding notes emerge in continuation as though the sarangi sings. His systematic Badhat, exquisite Gamaks, and intricate Tans make his performances unique and soulful.

Ustad Sultan Khan gave his first performance at the All-India Conference at the age of 11, and since then has become to be recognized on an international scale, performing along with Pandit Ravi Shankar on former Beatle, George Harrison’s 1974 Dark Horse World Tour. He has won numerous musical awards, including being a recipient twice of the Sangeet Natya Academy Award, also know as the President’s Award, as well as being a recipient of the Gold Medalist Award of Maharashtra, and the American Academy of Artists Award in 1998. In 1997 he had the honor and privledge of playing for Prince Charles’ 50th birthday celebration.

Ustad Sultan Khan also has composed and recorded music for films, such as In Custody, and Ghandi. But, his true devotion and love lie in playing the classical music of India.

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Zakir Hussain is today appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the world of music at large as an international phenomenon. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistenly brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in his own country, India, but gained him fame all over the world for his many accomplishments.

Zakir’s contribution to world music has been unique, with many unique and historic collaborations including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, the Diga Rhythm Band, Making Music, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, and recordings and performances with artists diverse as George Harrison, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Jack Bruce, Tito Puente, Pharoah Saunders, Billy Cobham, the Hong Kong Symphony and the New Orleans Symphony.

In 1987, his first solo release, Making Music, was acclaimed as “one of the most inspired East-West fusion albums ever recorded.” In 1988, he became the youngest percussionist to ever be awarded the title “Padma Shri” by the Indian government, a title given to civilians of merit. In 1990, he was awarded the Indo-American Award, in recognition for his outstanding contribution to relations between the United States and India. In April 1991, he was presented with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award by the president of India, making him one of the youngest musicians to recieve this recognition from India’s governing cultural institute. In 1992, Planet Drum, an album co-created and produced by Zakir and Mickey Hart, was awarded a Grammy for Best World Music Album, the Downbeat Critics Poll for Best World Beat Album and the NARM Indie Best Seller Award for World Music Recording.

In 1992, he also launched Moment! Records which features original works and collaborations in the field of contemporary world music, as well as digitally recorded live concert performances by great masters of the classical music of India. The label presents Zakir’s own world percussion ensemble, The Rhythm Experience. His compositional skills can also be heard on soundtracks for the films In Custody, Ismail Merchant’s directorial debut, and Little Buddha by Bernardo Bertolucci, for which Zakir composed, performed and was the Indian music advisor.

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k7
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