High Strung

Vilayat Khan’s youngest son says it actually worked in his favour. “I was only 23 then and open to experiments. Also,I was living in the US and it was a conscious attempt on my father’s part to keep me away from the media attention. I never wanted a publicist to tell the world about my lineage and wanted my music to speak for itself and represent my gharana,” says the 35-year-old,from the legendary Imdad gharana.

The sitarist,who has jammed with greats like The Rolling Stones,is now out with his album Sawariya (Sa Re Ga Ma,Rs 299),a collection of his favourite performances from his different concerts. “I have performed most of these tracks with different improvisations at different venues. That is how they have evolved so differently. Also,sitar is an extremely feminine instrument. I have accommodated my voice within its scaffolding to find a balance,” says Hidayat. He has incorporated the trademark gayaki ang of his gharana by complementing his sitar rendition with vocals. The album includes a ghazal by Mehdi Hassan and a track that Hidayat performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. “I have always enjoyed working in studios. Inspite of my strictly classical training,I have been inspired by all kinds of music. So this album is a work of passion,” says Hidayat,who picked up the sitar when he was 14 years old,after considering “not becoming a musician”. “If you belong to an illustrious family,you just get into it. It is not really an option,” he says.

The nine-track album opens with a trance number Albela sajan in raga Ahir Bhairav with very strong bass lines and goes on to a lounge track called Raat,followed by the title track,which is a folk melody in raag Khamaj. The album concludes with Naazneen,a song with a rustic Middle-eastern feel to it. “My father used to say,‘A raga should be performed such that within a few minutes it stands in front of you.’ I try to follow his advice,” who will announce his Bollywood project soon.