Musical Alliances

Legendary British rock group, Jethro Tull, perform at the IIM Bangalore grounds, to a crowd of screaming fans. After spending several harrowing hours queued up at ungodly hours, I did finally manage to lay my hands on a ticket. Since this was to be my first brush with a live concert and Tull8217;s music, I didn8217;t quite know what to expect. After much jostling and shoving around, when I was handed the ticket I8217;m pretty sure I actually managed a single tear roll down my chubby cheek. It was quite a Charlie Bucket moment I had there, except my ticket wasn8217;t in a bar of chocolate, it cost me all of my week8217;s pocket money. Got there a few hours early and stood in line patiently, surrounded by old uncleji types dressed in threadbare t-shirts from the 1970s that had probably been safely tucked away in cupboards studded with nepthalene balls all these years. Giving them tough competition were the stoned, 20 something, rocker dude types, who apart from looking spaced out, seemed quite well-versed with Tull8217;s music. The concert, claimed Tullphiles, had it all 8212;the whimsical trilling flute, the occasional shredding guitar solo and the heady mix of songs. At the end of the day, as dust settled on the sprawling grounds, I walked back to my hotel room a satisfied man.

Circa November 26, 2008, Kolkata

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull comes to Kolkata to perform with sitar player Anoushka Shankar in a jugalbandi as part of a weeklong India tour. As he settles himself comfortably in a garden chair at the lawns of a five-star hotel to interact with the local press, I wonder if I should mention the Bangalore concert. 8220;When Anoushka performs tomorrow I will be watching her fingers and her eyes. And I am sure at the end of the day I will learn a lot by the end of the evening,8221; beams Anderson. His genorosity towards his fellow performer is trademark Tull. The band has, after all, over the years successfully experimented with different genres of music. In a career spanning more than four decades the group has won admirers across the globe and is known for its distinctive vocal style and the lead flute work Ian Anderson, who says he often includes Indian notes into his music. 8220;I like Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia for two reasons. Firstly, he is older than me. But more importantly he seems to be the only one who still retains the simplicty of the humble bamboo instrument and makes great music,8221; says Anderson. When he performs at the Science City auditorium today, Anderson will be making music in a way which he finds most comfortable. 8220;I prefer performing live to recording in the inert atmosphere of a studio. It8217;s always more exciting, 8220; he says. As the harried PR representatives point out, it8217;s time to wrap up the interview. I think I will tell him about the way he has touched the lives of a cross section of people. I think of mentioning the old unclejis from Bangalore. But all I manage is a tentative handshake.