Wild call entry

Grammy winner Pt Dhruba Ghosh recalls his duet with humpback whales.

Grammy winner Pt Dhruba Ghosh recalls his duet with humpback whales.

IT was an unusual request that came Pandit Dhruba Ghoshs way. Sometime early last year,the Mumbai-based sarangi artiste got a call from a musician named Paul Winter asking if he would like to collaborate with a global group of musicians on a project inspired by the sounds of nature. I didnt know who he was,so he suggested that if I Googled him,I might find some information. He then added,as an afterthought,that he had won five Grammy Awards. That was when I became sold on the project, laughs Pt. Ghosh. He didnt regret his decision the resultant album,Miho: Journey To The Mountains,was not only a musical revelation but has also won a Grammy for the Best New-Age Album this year.

The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group led by alt saxophonist Winter. The music is mostly inspired by the sounds of nature and mixes elements of classical,jazz and world music. There have been several changes in line-up since its inception; the group that recorded Miho includes,besides Pt Ghosh and Winter,Arto Tuncboyaciyan on vocals and sazabo,Paul McCandless on woodwinds; Steve Gorn on bansuri,Eugene Friesen on cello,Glen Velez on percussion,Don Grusin on keyboard,Yukiko Matsuyama on koto and Yangjin Lamu on vocals. The music was recorded at the Miho Museum in Japans Shigaraki Mountains.

Pt. Ghosh,who heads the Sangeet and Nartan Peeth of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,recalls,Paul asked me if I had ever heard recordings of bird songs and I informed him that even if such recording existed in India,I was not aware of them. He then told me he would send me some whale songs to listen. It was a first for the sarangi player,but he was instantly smitten. Humpback whales use sounds to communicate with one another that may only be three or four notes,but theyre so melodious. It is one of the most beautiful and touching sounds Ive ever heard. He went on to compose what would be called the Whale Raga,which was one of his two contributions on the album. His other track is a solo sarangi piece,called Sarangi-Dawn Raga,composed in Ahir Bhairav.

This is not the first time that Pt. Ghosh has collaborated with foreign musicians. He was instrumental in forming the World String Orchestra in Japan,which involved traditional string instruments of Japan,China,Korea,Uzbekistan and India. He has also worked with baroque musician Philippe Pierlot,cellists Jean Paul Dessy,Francoise Deppe and Justin Pearson among others.

At present,Pt. Ghosh is intrigued enough by his work with the Paul Winter Consort to explore the possibility of further such projects. He enjoyed his duet with the whales so much that hes asked to use their recordings in concerts in India. He also hopes to use recordings of Indian fauna in music. Ive asked the Natural History Society if any bird sound recordings exist in India, he says.