Tucker’s Taal

In his covers and compositions,Tucker,a 24-year-old clarinetist who grew up in Massachusetts,sets up a unique jugalbandi between jazz and Hindustani classical music,playing the clarinet like a bansuri,or slipping in the sounds of the kanjira,the small drum used in Carnatic music,into an ensemble of guitar and piano — all instruments that he plays. Tucker is also a student of flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia at the Brindaban Gurukul based in Mumbai. He began composing music last spring. “And this year,when Guruji had a Europe tour for a few months,I had some time. I bought a video camera and began work on my compositions. That was the beginning of The Shrutibox — I saw a lot of people making music careers online,so I decided to give it a shot,” he says.

Tucker’s most popular collaborations have been with Mumbai-based classical singer Nirali Kartik and Washington DC-based vocalists,Vidya and Vandana Iyer. The Iyer sisters’ version of Carnatic compositions Nee Nenaindal and Asham Mugai,set to the clarinet by Tucker,went viral on the internet,prompting the sisters to start their own Facebook fan page. “We had never anticipated such a response. We just record with Shankar and he does the rest. From composing to playing the instruments to making the video,” says Vidya over the phone from Washington DC.

Tucker’s fusion gives the classical tunes space to breathe,as he deftly weaves in jazz elements into a composition. “Most musicians these days record in takes but Shankar records an entire song in one take. He doesn’t copy and paste — what he does is old school and this makes his sound so unique,” says Kartik. The two have performed at ­various concerts in India together. All the music is sold online on The Shrutibox. Tucker calls AR Rahman,many of whose songs he has done cover versions of,his “number one inspiration”.

The videos,made by Tucker,are not the amateur,pixelated stuff that float on the Web. They are minimalist and tastefully done,as befits the music. Tucker records the vocals and then shoots himself playing various instruments. Over the next three days,he brings all these elements together and creates a surprisingly simple video.

The story of his music and his name began in the US. Eight-year-old Tucker went up to his grandfather,a musician,and insisted that he be taught how to play the saxophone. “My grandfather had a clarinet lying with him. He told me that if I learn that,I could easily switch to the saxophone. Of course,I later realised he had tricked me,” he says with a laugh. His interest in jazz grew through his school days,and in high school came another turning point. He went for a darshan of “Amma” Mata Amritanandamayi Devi. “My parents and I are followers of Amma and during a darshan,she called me and asked me to play the clarinet with bhajans. She knew that I played the clarinet and after that day,I accompanied her whenever she toured in the States. That was my real exposure to Indian music. It was Amma who gave me my name when I was eight years old. When I’m in India,people find my name very amusing,” he says.

While studying Western classical clarinet at New England Conservatory in Massachusetts,Tucker met his teacher,sitarist Peter Row,who taught him a few ragas,and made him more curious about Indian classical music. “Around the time,I discovered Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia’s music and fell in love with it. I collected all his music and even before I had started studying under him,my education had begun,” he says.

Over a year ago,with Row’s help,Tucker got a prestigious grant from the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians and came to India to study under Pandit Chaurasia. What surprised Tucker the most when he came to India was the method of teaching. “In the US,we have hour-long music classes once a week. At Gurukul,Guruji taught us for two hours every day. It’s very different – he doesn’t talk a lot,only when you are out of tune. While,back in the States,the teacher-student relationship is very interactive,” he says,using “generous” to describe his mentor more than once. His guru has not heard about his experiments online. “I don’t think Guruji knows about it. He’s taught me Hindustani classical music and he is pleased with it. What I’m doing is fusion and semi-classical,which is probably not his preferred world. I will tell him when the time is right,” he says. Why does Chaurasia’s student play the clarinet and not the flute? “The clarinet allows me to play Hindustani classical music — it sounds like the bansuri and can be played one octave lower — as well as Western classical. Anyway,what is fusion if you’ve to change your instrument?”

But fusion is not new to India. We thrive on fusion clothing,food,lifestyle and music. What is distinctive about Tucker? He laughs for a bit and says: “I was in no hurry,so I took my time in making the music and the videos. Maybe other musicians do it all in a haste. Also,most ask a DJ to add an uplifting beat or a drum beat to a classical tune — I enjoy it,but it doesn’t stay. Maybe my music stays,” he says. The 50,000 likes scrolled under his videos seem to agree.