Satvik Style

Musician Salil Bhatt,38,casually strings the Satvik Veena,producing a classical Indian tune. He tweaks it a little,and the sound changes dramatically,to a soft,slow melody.

The Veena has never sounded this cool

Musician Salil Bhatt,38,casually strings the Satvik Veena,producing a classical Indian tune. He tweaks it a little,and the sound changes dramatically,to a soft,slow melody. Salil,son of the legendary Pandit Vishwa Mohun Bhatt,a Padmashree and Grammy award winner,is slowly coming into his own. His latest album,Mumbai 2 Munich,which hes co-produced with German jazz guitarist Matthias Muller,is a tribute to Mumbai,after the November terror attacks. I met Muller at a concert in Switzerland in 2005. He was familiar with Indian classical music,especially my repertoire which made the collaboration easier, says Bhatt,whos also been credited with moulding the regular veena into a much slicker version,called the Satvik Veena.

Unlike the older versions of the traditional veena which would produce a duller,softer sound,the Satvik Veena sounds sharply dynamic,that piqued Mullers curiosity immediately. Muller is basically a jazz guitarist.Our sound would match so well that the tracks would just emerge out of nowhere, he says,talking about the seven-track album which is a blend of Indian classical music and folk sounds peppered with some jazz and blues.

Beginning with the serene South Indian raga Basant Mukhari,the album opens with some pure classical music and turns to some fusion tracks like Peace and Ahimsaa track composed by Muller and dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. The most unusual track on the album is Jog Blues which merges raag Jog sounds with Mullers notes on the Spanish guitar.

Bhatts passion for Indian classical music remains intact,despite several international collaborations that hes been working on recently. I respect the traditions of classical music but I interpret it my own way, explains Bhatt,referring to some Indian classical music connoisseurs whove criticised his fusion sound in the past. Theres nothing wrong with experimenting and music also evolves with time, says Bhatt. In his 25-year career,Bhatt has performed before the Parliament of Germany in 2005,for the King of Oman,Government of Taiwan and Ice Land,as a member delegate with the former President,APJ Abdul Kalam. Get ready to tune in.

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