Indian raga
Shridevi Keshavan
Saturday, August 25, 2007 23:59 IST
As she readies for her concert tonight, violonist Vanessa Mae is already
dreaming about the Taj Mahal
She construes her Indian song as something that she would like to play on the
streets of the country with AR Rahman. “It cannot get better than AR Rahman.
‘Raga’s Dance’ from my last album ‘Choreography’, on which I collaborated with
AR Rahman is pretty much my Indian song,” says violinist Vanessa Mae who is
performing at Grand Hyatt tonight for Seagram’s 100 Pipers. It’s the Taj Mahal
she is the most excited about though. “How can someone come to India and not
see the Taj?” she wonders.
Vanessa’s rise to fame was destined and expected when she started playing the
violin at the age of five and eventually became the youngest soloist to record
Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Quiz her about taking the instrument to a different
level with her staggering experimentations of fusing different styles of music
and the critics making nasty comments at the same time and she says, “I was all
of 16 and couldn’t care less about what the critics were saying. I always
thought of the violin as an instrument that should be more accessible to
people. People had never seen pop and rock played on a classical instrument,”
she smiles.
The violinist has performed with some of the most popular names in the music
industry including Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Prince among others.
“Working with Prince was the most exciting and frightening experience. It was
jazz funk, something I had never done before. So when I got a call from him I
was tempted to take it up. He breathes music,” she recalls.
With a brand new album on the way Vanessa doesn’t divulge too much about her
next project but promises something new. “After what I’ve experimented
everything that follows will stem from the same source unless I do like acid
jazz (laughs). On the new album I’m planning more of visual impact,” she
explains.
Coming back to her performance tonight where she will be jamming with sitarist
Ustad Nishat Khan, her songs will be a blend of songs from her work at various
points in her life. “I have heard Ravi Shankar and her daughter perform but
have never really done a duet. So I’m really looking forward to it,” she ends.
