Kolkata :
Who said classical music was boring? It could be cool, too. Say hello to supergroup ‘Classicool’, a conglomeration of second- or third-generation musical talents including sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee, drummer Gino Banks, son of Louiz Banks, tabla player Anubrata Chatterjee, son of Pt Anindo Chatterjee, flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Amaan Ali Khan, son of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, among others. Their mantra: Classical is cool.
It is to be noted that all of these collaborators have direct or indirect links with Kolkata. Louiz was ‘discovered’ by R D Burman during a concert at Park Street, Hariprasad Chaurasia speaks Bengali as fluently as anyone in the city. The supergroup, debuting in Mumbai on July 31, is aching to put up a show in Kolkata, the ‘Mecca of music’.
The musicians, though, loathe to call it a ‘band’ and prefer to call it a “movement”. The supergroup also has vocalist Suchismita Das, who has collaborated with A R Rahman, and city guitarist Sanjay Das. The idea to push classical music to GenY came to life with Purbayan tying up with music portal Qyuki.com, which is headed by A R Rahman, filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor and Samir Bangara, who is the co-founder and MD of the portal.
“The movement aims to make classical music more relevant to the youth. It’s only appropriate that so many musicians with a Bengal connect are on board. We are waiting eagerly to be able to stage a show in the city,” said Bangara.
“In an initiative like this, it’s only natural that everyone would have a Bengal connection. This project is distinctly Kolkata-driven, as you can’t avoid the city when it comes to classical music,” said Anubrata. “Classical music must be regenerated for the youth and they must be mobilized. Classicool retains original ragas and presents them in a modern soundscape using the bass and drums as accompaniment. In 3- to 5-minute capsules, we have presented original content in a new context. People, especially youngsters, have a lower attention span these days. Therefore, classical music needs to be fed in shorter doses of a few minutes in a song-like format. Also, these youngsters are used to a certain kind of bass-drum soundscape which they think is cool. They can also identify with certain visuals. Classicool presents classical music in a user-friendly format so that the sanctity of the raga is preserved without distancing or intimidating the listener,” said Purbayan.
With all the musicians established in their classical worlds and Gino being the only ‘non-classical’ player, does it make him feel the odd one out? “Not at all. Just because I play the drums doesn’t mean the character of the music has changed. The sound, a little. I have knowledge about classical music and that helps me, definitely,” said Gino.
“I’m very happy with the Classicool project. In my time, I was classic as well as cool,” Louiz laughed out loud. “But this movement is a welcome boost to the evolution of music. The purist may not agree. But I realized it 30 years ago when I ventured into classical and merged it with jazz,” said the veteran pianist.
“This is the best of both worlds. This is the future of music. And during my Kolkata days, I never found a more knowledgeable, appreciative audience. I’m very happy that Gino has teamed up with a bunch of extremely talented musicians with distinct Kolkata connections,” he added.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / July 22nd, 2014