Music, Rituals, and Farewells!

Monsoon Music in India 2010-2011:

Monsoon Music comprises of saxophonist & brothers Jonathan and Andrew Kay, along with bassist Justin Gray from Toronto, Canada.  For the past three years they have been learning Indian Classical Raga music from Vocalist Shantanu Bhattacharyya.  The three Jazz musicians are attempting to learn the traditional music from North India and apply it to their native Western Instruments. 

This blog is an excerpt from the latest entry of their TravelPod.com blog, accounting their travels, adventures, and experience in India. You can find the original blog in it's entirety HERE.

For more information regarding Monsoon Music, please visit www.monsoon-music.com, or contact them through, [email protected].

I mentioned Steve Gorn earlier as he is an amazing Bansuri player who we met through Deboda. After hearing his name in our first meeting with Deboda, while at home in Toronto last year, Jon and I contacted Steve and asked to come meet him and have a lesson. We travelled down to NYC and sat with Steve for an amazing lesson where we shared our experiences both in India and North America. We chatted about Deboda and how we were excited to see him again once we returned to Kolkata. Well, Steve came to Kolkata in January to spend some time performing and checking out concerts. I went to hear Steve play, which was absolutely amazing and inspiring, and he also came over to our house for a jam with our friend Sudhir on Tabla and then over to Gurujee's house for more wonderful music.

Over the past few months, both Jonathan and I have had the great opportunity to perform with some of Kolkata and India's finest musicians. In February, Jon and I played 4 or 5 concerts with Bickram Ghosh, a world famous Tabla artist. He is a truly wonderful musician who has consistently pushed the boundaries of the music world both here and around the world. We performed with his group Rhythmscape, a great group of musicians playing and jamming on compositions in the Indian Fusion style. We've had an amazing time learning the songs, interacting with the guys, both on stage and off, and performing for a wide variety of audiences.

Our first concert was actually at Fort Raichak, an old British fort turned 5 star hotel, a couple hours outside Kolkata on the river Ganges. It was a beautiful place with a great set up and wonderful audience. Everyone enjoyed the new colours and energy we brought to the band and we had such a great time playing with these great musicians. We were also asked by another Tabla artist, Subhen Chatterjee, a wonderful man who is considered to be the pioneer of Indian Fusion here in Kolkata back in the late 70s. We sat with him and learned some really interesting compositions and then put it all together in a rehearsal with his band.

We played an interesting gig at the Oil Refinery Technologist Convention at the Oberoi Grand Hotel here in Kolkata. It was a bit dull reading about a process I don't really support (oil refinery), especially in the terms and diagrams of all the engineers and scientists that designed and run these systems. However, it was great fun playing some fusion music for them to liven up the night!! The audience was very warm and enjoyed the many songs and solos that everyone in the band played. Altogether there were 12 musicians on stage, everyone adding a unique colour and energy to the mix!!

We were very honoured and excited to be invited to Gurujee's cousin, Sriman Dwaipayan's Brahmin Thread Ceremony. The Thread ceremony is a Hindu ceremony that is unique to the men who come from the Brahmin caste and an important moment in their lives that bridges the child and the man. At around age 11-13, young boys go through a series of rituals and ceremonies that prepares them for their life as a man. These rituals have been passed down for thousands of years and are of great importance to these people.  While attending the ceremony, we learnt and witnessed some of the things that the boys go through and participate in during the ceremony. One of the most important aspects is the fire offerings which include repeating many mantras and learning the many methods one will use during his poojas for the rest of his life. 

We also witnessed the shaving of Sriman's head, which symbolizes a rebirth.  After the shaving of the head, the father and son return to the fire and complete the final rituals including the doing of the thread, something that they will wear for their entire lives. After all of these rituals, the Sriman went into his room for three days without any contact with people. Everyone who attended then headed upstairs for a great feast in celebration of this important event in our young cousin's life.  

We hope you've enjoyed seeing what our lives have been like over the past few months. Please leave comments, email us and tell us what you think and what you all have been up to. Thanks again for checking this out, we all really appreciate the interest and support you've given us during our time 'away'.  Look forward to hearing from you and seeing you soon.

Contributed by: Andrew Kay from Monsoon Music. The original blog entries can be viewed HERE.

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