String theory

Shakir Khan

Any musician, according to classical sitar player Shakir Khan, undergoes two types of training. While one is the formal rendezvous with the nuances of a genre or the intricacies of an instrument, the other is a more natural and instinctive process that also encompasses observational learning. For Shakir, who is the son of sitar maestro Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan of the Etawah gharana, the latter happened way too early and laid the foundation stone for his career path.
At the age of three, Khan was gifted a mini sitar by his father, and thus began his formal lessons. He gave his first stage performance when he was 11 years old. Though his heart lies with classical music, Shakir — like a true musician — has neither restricted himself from experimenting with other genres, nor from collaborating with contemporary artistes. His two upcoming albums, Human Evolution and Taurat, further reveal his versatility. Made in collaboration with musicians from Spain and Portugal, Human Evolution is an international jazz project. “It’s unique in the sense that not many have attempted to combine sitar and jazz together,” says Shakir, adding, “On a tour to Spain, my tabla player introduced me to Alberto Conde, one of the best piano players. Subsequently, we started jamming. He instantly proposed to make an album with me.”
While the album has already released overseas in May, it will release in India only next year. It features eight contemporary compositions with elements of jazz and electronic. “The music is very meditative and wherever we played it in Spain, it was well-received,” says Shakir, who has collaborated and recorded with Indian bands Mukti and Soundscape and European jazz ensemble Taalism in the past. His independent album Taurat, he says, has a “loungey and EDM feel” to it. Taurat, which means “to express” in Persian, features five tracks. While one is an EDM-based funky track, there are two easy-going tracks with a classical appeal. “There is also one English song with a touch of classical music. There is a folk song, to which everyone will be able to relate, unlike classical music which is only for learned people,” says Shakir, the eighth-generation scion of the Etawah gharana.
Despite such collaborations, Khan maintains that nothing can take him away from classical music. Though his versatility would allow him a spectrum of platforms, from overseas shows to classical music festivals, his true calling will always be the latter, he admits. “My father always said that one should never forget his roots; my roots are with classical music. Even when I collaborate with artistes from other genres, I stick to my fundamentals.” Shakir has recently returned to the city after two back-to-back Europe tours, marked by performances in London, Vigo, Madrid, Lisbon, Salzburg, Geneva, Vienna and parts of Germany. The second tour was in Spain and Portugal, which culminated into Human Evolution. Among the artistes associated with the Gharana, Shakir idolises Pandit Ravishankar the most, whom he says, has redefined presentation and the demeanour of an artiste on stage. “Senior musicians always tend to give something to the music,” says Shakir, recalling an incident. “We were trying to locate a particular auditorium in a small town in Spain. We asked a local man for directions. The sitar in my hand rang a bell in his head and he joined the dots by exclaiming ‘Oh sitar!..India..Pandit Ravishankar..’ I was speechless,” he says.