Strings of Success

Saurabh Bhatt had composed the music for his album Music with Soul four years ago but is better known as the composer for Balaji Telefilms’ daily soaps.

The eigh-track album is a fusion album— a mix of lounge music and classical Indian sounds. It has been created by collaborating with artistes like Rakesh Chaurasia on flute,Niladari Kumar on sitar and Shyam Raj on the saxophone. “The feel is Indian but there are touches of western influences with use of instruments like the saxophone,guitar and keyboard,” says Saurabh. With tracks titled Moments of love,Mist,Longings of love and Peace within,the album is a blend of love,pathos,desires and dreams.

Legendary for his blinding speed and faultless legato on the 19 string instrument,the Mohan Veena,Bhatt also believes that his latest album follows a more contemporary sound.

“At this point of time its all about my effort to blend music to make it sound a little more modern. I don’t see anything wrong with experimenting with the sound.” Bhatt acknowledges the dwindling audience for classical music but is optimistic that things will improve. “I hope that this combination of sitar,sarod and veena techniques,intermingled with western instruments will appeal to youngsters as well,” he says.

After working with a lot of artistes in India and abroad,Bhatt is now working on a new album with Canadian reed virtuoso Glen Halls. “He is a brilliant jazz pianist and this is the only kind of music that I hadn’t worked on before,” he says.