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Western Music in India
The amalgamation of the eastern and the western melodies gave rise to the "western fusions".
"Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto"-- Ralph Waldo Emerson . Music is therefore that element which not only uplifts the soul but at the same time "washes away the dust" of daily existence. Amidst its tune, harmony, melody and rhythm music sublimates the human mind.
Indian music unfurls the timeline of that undaunted journey from the Vedic hymns to the music of the contemporary era. Indians were always comfortable in illustrating themselves amidst the artistry of tune; raga, tal and sur. Quite ideally therefore Indian music has gradually became one of the much acknowledged genres of the varied art form. The rich chronicle of Indian music unveils its voyage from the ancient Vedic hymns to the recent era where music has gained a whole fresh facet. Indian music has therefore witnessed a lot of alteration in regard to its style, diction and approach. Gone are the times of Sanskrit songs and it is with the introduction of the Pop, Rock, and western fusion and brass bands, Indian music has become lot more contemporary.
The history of the typical musical fusion or the western fusion as it has been named dates back to the early period of 60s and the progenitor was of course Ali Akbar Khan. Later it is in the hands of "Ravi Shankar", the great sitar maestro, western fusions gained its desired contour. The year 1962 is indeed an important year in the history of western fusion in India as for the very first time the musical traits of east jelled well with melodic attributes of the west. The release of "Improvisations" which is of course a classical effort of unifying jazz and sitar aided in taking Indian music that steady step in the arena of global music. The late 1970s and the early 1980s were however marked as the "Rock and roll" era in Indian music history. The Hindustani classical songs coupled with its raga and tal was then not the only genre of music that enchanted a million souls as then the western fusion developed quite rapidly to befit the requirements of 80s whilst captivating the intellectuals.
It is only the Indian artist but also quite a large number of Western talents embraced Indian music whist westernizing it a lot. John Coltrane - the jazz pioneer recorded a composition and named it "India" and illustrated the philosophies of east and west amidst the tuneful improvisations of western and Indian classical music. Other western artist like "Grateful Dead" and bands like " The rolling stones", "Incredible string band" also incorporated eastern influence and instruments to create a whole new genre of music where the best of the two worlds were ideally exemplified. Western fusion laced with its entire chic ness further added that modish tinge to Indian music whilst making it to stand apart amidst crowd with dignity and pride.
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