Traversing genres

melding musical styles: Shubha Mudgal

Venue: The Music Academy
Date: November 23
Time: 7.15 p.m.

Shubha Mudgal blends the classical with the contemporary. Her Indi-pop numbers are as popular as the energetic thumris she is renowned for.

Two years ago, she vowed Chennai’s audiences with her prowess in Hindustani music. But then, you can’t restrict her music to a single genre. Never the one to shy away from experimenting with her voice, and music, Shubha and husband Aneesh Pradhan have come up with ‘Koshish’, a musical ensemble, which beautifully melds various musical and poetic influences. Her concert this time is split into two parts —‘Koshish’ and Indi-pop numbers.

The music of ‘Koshish’, composed by the couple, fuses North Indian art music, Western art music and jazz to create music that is powerful, yet restrained, and contemporary, yet rooted in tradition.

The poetry chosen for ‘Koshish’ ranges from the multi-layered subtexts of medieval poets such as Kabir and Pemi to the works of modern literary giants such as Gulzar and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The verses speak about things ranging from troubled wartime thoughts, politics that divides souls, love, and bhakti.

The Indi-pop segment of the concert will feature familiar songs from her popular Indi-pop albums such as ‘Ab Ke Saawan’, ‘Man Ke Manjere’, ‘Naachoon Mein Saari Saari Raat’, ‘Kisson Ki Chadar’ and ‘The Awakening’.

Shubha has been trained by some of the finest classical musicians such as Ram Ashreya Jha, Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya, Jitendra Abhisheki, Kumar Gandharva and Naina Devi, and is known for her willingness to expand her creative boundaries and engage with the audience at different levels.

Aneesh, a disciple of tabla maestro Nikhil Ghosh, has won acclaim for his solo tabla recitals and his accompaniment to vocal, instrumental and dance performances.

He also composes for films and theatrical and musical productions.

INTERVIEW:

How did ‘Koshish’ come about?

‘Koshish’ is an attempt to establish a dialogue between musicians trained in different forms of music. Essentially, such experimentation forms the basis of many ‘fusion’ ensembles, but for ‘Koshish’, we decided to concentrate on poetry as a springboard to launch into musical expression. Consequently, we try to experiment with a variety of Hindi and Urdu poetry from medieval and contemporary sources.

The diversity in the poetry is marked by the variety in metrical pattern, themes, and use of language, and we hope that our compositions and musical elaboration reflect this diversity.

Tell us about the compositions that are part of ‘Koshish’?

As mentioned earlier, the poetry is varied and the music is equally diverse. The musicians in the ‘Koshish’ ensemble are trained in Hindustani music, jazz, Western classical music and have a long experience in concerts and recording sessions for many kinds of music, including film. Typically, the melody for each poetic piece is composed and the musical arrangement for the song version worked out. But, the performers add their improvisations.

This lends a different colour to each piece. ‘Koshish’ hopes to work as an ensemble, rather than a group of soloists who take turns individually and complete each piece with a grand finale. The compositions performed adhere to the North Indian concept of sthyai-antara or many antaras with musical interludes between these, but the interludes are not pre-conceived.

Classical, Indi-pop, and now ‘Koshish’. How do you traverse genres with such ease?

A student of music needs to be open to diverse systems of music, irrespective of whether these will influence his or her music. I have done just this in all my years of training and continue to do so to this day.

I am drawn to experimenting with my voice in more than one genre, as I consider myself as much a student of voice as of music. I don’t think I traverse these genres with ease, as each of these comes with its set of challenges, and I accept these challenges with humility and restraint.

How do you feel performing in Chennai?

I have been performing in Chennai for several years, primarily during the December season. I have presented Hindustani music in these concerts, including one two years ago in The Hindu Friday Review November Fest.

But, this will be the first time that I perform in Chennai with the ‘Koshish’ ensemble.

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