Singer lets instinct guide her through ancient musical tradition
At its best, Indian classical music exerts a magical spell that can be meditative, mysterious and thrilling all in the same raga.
Renowned vocalist Shweta Jhaveri (who performs here Saturday) has been acclaimed for her seemingly effortless ability to improvise in concert, but for her, finding that magic involves taking a more instinctual suspension of thought.
“Technique eventually takes a secondary part,” she explains, “and something else takes over. When too much technique takes over you don’t enjoy your performance so much.”
She feels it comes down to a couple of special aspects, sruti and rasa. In a recent phone conversation from her home in California’s Bay Area she emphasized the two terms, both handed down from the ancient language of Sanskrit.
“Sruti is the smallest interval in the microtonal form. Rasa is the sentiment, like the heart of the music. To me, these two are the major esthetics in Indian classical music.”
Just to clarify, a western chromatic scale divides into 12 pitches or semitones, the 12 notes on a piano. In the Indian classical tradition there are 22 microtones, thought to be the smallest changes in pitch noticeable to the human ear. Becoming comfortable with that microtonal scale and a range of complex time signatures are the greatest challenges in the lifelong practice of Indian music.
Whether they are destined to sing or play an instrument, Indian musicians commonly start by learning to create the microtonal scale vocally. Jhaveri started both voice and dance lessons at age six.
Born in Ahmedabad in India’s northwest province of Gujarat, she is considered one of the top exponents in the North Indian tradition. She’s a master improviser in the extended suites known as raga, and in songs like the more uptempo, open-ended khayal form, the bhajan (devotional hymn), and
My parents both had a great respect for classical arts including music so they were very supportive of my interests.
thumri (romantic ballads). Most of her vocals are delivered in Hindi and she often accompanies herself strumming the zither-like string instrument known as swarmandal.
Because Jhaveri’s father worked in medicine and her mother in literary pursuits she wonders if “something innate” drew her to music.
“My parents both had a great respect for classical arts including music so they were very supportive of my interests.”
By the age of 16 she realized she had to specialize in music or dance and chose singing. By that time she was already composing her own songs and had been performing since age 11. In her early teens Jhaveri became a student of the great singer Pandit Jasrag and his signature style known as mewati. Accompanying him on tour took her throughout India and beyond to the west. At 18, she made her international debut in London and she has now enjoyed her own solo career over 20 years.
Typically, the singer splits her year between the east and the west, her home in Ahmedabad and time in California. Back in India she is featured regularly on radio and television and has contributed to film soundtracks, but she has a long career history in the Bay Area too. Jhaveri become the youngest visiting musician to join the faculty at the famous Ali Akbar College of Music around 1990, an association that lasted for a decade.
She is one of those rare virtuosos in the Indian classical world to crossover and Jhaveri has recorded with American jazz players using improvisation as a bridge between traditions. Today she balances private teaching work with a moderate schedule of touring and recording.
Jhaveri made her Edmonton concert debut in the late 1990s. Saturday’s concert for Raga Mala Music Society is her first appearance here in over a decade and she’s set to perform with veteran tabla percussionist Ravi Gutala, a frequent colleague for nearly 30 years now.
Edmonton Raga Mala presents Shweta Jhaveri at the Royal Alberta Museum Theatre, Saturday, 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the door, discounted for students or seniors, and free for patron members.
Raga Mala also features virtuosos Sandip Chatterjee (santoor) and Pankaj Mishra (sarangi) with percussion backing at the same venue on Oct. 7. For further details see edmontonragamala.ab.ca.
MUSIC FOR WELL-BEING
From another corner of the music world, the Greek-American singer known simply as Simrit brings her unique take on music as a meditative and healing practice to her Edmonton debut Sept.12.
Simrit Kaur Khalsa was born in Athens, Greece but adopted and raised by a Greek family in South Carolina who encouraged her piano, drum and voice lessons. In the beginning her songs were tied to the practice of yoga and meditation but that only hints at the breadth of her material.
Her unique sound brings together elements of Greek orthodox chant, West African beats, devotional poetry from the Punjab and South Asia, pop hooks and further influences from American and British roots music in a rather mystical fashion that speaks to the innate spirituality in her fans without drawing deliberate religious ties.
With recordings dating back for most of a decade now Simrit has picked up fans like singer Belinda Carlisle on her way to topping the world music charts. Her last album Songs Of Resilience (2016) balances chant-like song forms, acoustic and electronic sounds for a set of ethereal moods.
Simrit’s performance takes place 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 12 at the Centre For Spiritual Healing (7621 101 Ave.).
Tickets start at $35, available online at brightstarevents.com.