KRISHNA FUSION BAND
As the name itself suggests, this fusion band is focused around the magnificent instrument called the ‘bansuri’ or the bamboo flute. It is a beautiful amalgamation of various genres of music that are prevalent in the country and hence the name. It has variety ranging from the classical ragas to rock, from the folklore to jazz, from carnatic to bollywood etc which makes it unique and probably the only band which can cater to a wide range of music lovers. What is most attractive is the fact that Pravin Godkhindi, the founder and the lead bansuri artiste of the band never compromises with the aesthetic appeal of the basic Indian ragas around which all the build-up of the concert happens. All the aspects of classical Hindustani style of renditions are kept intact while mixing different elements during the presentation of different numbers.
Pravin picks up a raga and unfolds the beauty of the raga in the traditional aalaap with the wonderful ambient backing of the keyboards and the guitars. Gradually he moves onto a rhythmic aalaap called JOD wherein the strumming of the rhythm guitar, the bass guitar and the subtle accompaniment of the western drums, adds colour to the rhythmic expressions of Pravin’s flute. And when they conclude the improvisations in a crescendo through the JHALA, the audience is spellbound and ecstatic. After this when Pravin begins with a traditional classical composition with the tabla as the main accompaniment, everyone is reminded of the rich tradition of our classical music. Gradually the rhythmic TAANS lead to a jazz beat on the drums and the western environment is captured with some brisk improvisations in the typical jazz style, quite unheard in the usual bansuri concerts. At this juncture the band takes turns in solos and after each solo pravin picks up different melodious Hindi film songs based on the same raga adding to the delight of the listeners. For the general music lover some unknown facts hitherto come to light when Pravin picks up popular film songs, from the 60’s till date, as a medley. The vast similarity in the usage of the same musical notes by different composers during different ages would definitely catch the audience by surprise and the way they are interspersed in the entire composition makes it quite unbelievable. A memorable rendition of one single raga!
UNIQUE MULTI-GENRE FUSION BAND
There are many such varieties in which the band performs and is known all over the country. And importantly, the treatment of each raga or number is decided by the raga itself so there is lot of variety for the listener, unlike as in other pop or rock bands. The impromptu solos of Pravin in the various genres of music, makes the band sound different every time. They have many original compositions in different categories which are also special in many ways but they are ‘the most sought-after band’ for their fusion of Indian classical, Western, Indian folk and to top it all the beautiful bollywood music of yester years.
There is one more important aspect to their performance, interaction with the audience. Pravin has the uncanny talent of getting his audience completely involved in his concert through his intermittent talks. On one hand, he passes on vital information of the classical ragas, their structure, the finer niceties and nuances of the renditions etc., and on the other he engrosses the audience to think and sing or clap in musical terms, which again is education, apart from what people actually love him for – entertainment.
It is difficult to put on paper what this band is capable of. Because of its originality in thinking, presentation and content, the band is doing wonders with the music lovers of all ages. To summarize, a classical music lover gets his share of the purity of raga and the calm soothing effect of the traditional music, a teenager gets his share of foot-tapping or head-banging-stuff, the general music lover gets his share of the popular folk and film music. Since most of the music is being produced spontaneously, Pravin decides the content of the entire concert depending on the audience in front of him.
Lastly as Pravin would love to put it “KRISHNA – THE FUSION BAND is all set to give the world – infotainment (entertainment and information), because I believe that the packaging of my music is different, but the roots and the therapeutic values of my music are still intact. Classical music will always remain close to my heart but such experiments, I’m sure, will bring much more audiences to the depleting classical concerts. My way of popularizing Indian classical music amongst masses”.