 Indian Ocean’s free flow of music
 Unadulterated, innovative and free flowing are the only words that pop up in the mind to describe the musical band Indian Ocean that performed to a packed audience at the Music Academy on November 12, a rainy Sunday evening in
Chennai.
Sushmit Sen on the acoustic guitar, Rahul Ram on bass and vocals, Asheem Chakravarty on tabla, percussions and vocals, and Amit Kilam on drums and flute, gave some top-class performance to regale the audience who came in large numbers with their raincoats and umbrellas to watch them at The Hindu’s Friday Review November Fest.
Indian Ocean’s music stems from the rich cultural Indian background, primarily folklore, that forms its melodic soul. It combines Hindustani classical music with jazz improvisation and rock-laden rhythmic patterns and with bass harmonics and matchless vocals to leave a stamp of its originality and creativity, a rare feat in the current context of Indian music.
Asheem, the lead vocalist, showed remarkable range of talent. An accomplished tabla player, he combined vocals, percussion with immaculate perfection. Sushmit's guitar work was consistent throughout, with crackling clean scale-based melodies.
Bassist
Rahul, a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from Cornell University, was a bundle of raw rock power with a powerful, gifted voice. He was more than a mere textural guitar player, a front man of the band who spoke to the audience narrating numerous anecdotes and tales to connect the right chord.
Amit, the drummer and flute player, combined with Asheem to create unique sounds. The musical integrity of the four musicians on stage was a treat to watch and would linger in memory for a long time to come.
The show opened with the track from ‘Desert Rain’, dubbed to be the first live album ever to be released by an Indian band. The performance moved to a track from their third album, ‘Kandisa’. They also sang ‘Maa Rewa’, a traditional folk song in praise of the river Narmada, and a revolutionary song sung by the Bhoomi Sena of
Maharashtra.
Their musical composition to a poem by Kabir, the great Indian saint-poet of the 15th century, was another masterpiece. ‘Nam Myo Ho’ captured the moment of Gautam's soul-awakening on his journey to becoming Buddha, the Enlightened One.
Other essential songs of the day were a track from their 2003 album ‘Jhini’, a song called ‘Bhor’ and a Syrian hymn in praise of God, written in Aramaic.
The pick of the day was ‘Hilela’, a track from ‘Kandisa’, whose opening line is a famous folklore of Bihar. The audience was in raptures when the orchestra was in fusion, experimenting with sounds; many stood up and started dancing to the free flow of the music created by Indian Ocean.
The level of instrumental independence, magnitude and larger-than-life stage performance of the Delhi based band were noteworthy. The beautiful combination of bass and drums, solo, and superb tabla and drums jugalbandi was a delight to watch.
“Indian classical music relies on a variety of scales that are used to create specific moods, and Indian Ocean’s music is largely based on that tradition,” said A Krishnan, a radio jockey who came from Bangalore to watch Indian Ocean perform live.
“Labels are pointless to describe Indian Ocean. It’s undoubtedly India’s most original and creative bands, unique and different from all the accessible sounds,” said Anjani Kumar, a garment exporter, who actually hails from Bihar but is settled in Chennai for many years.
What was apparent in the performance of Indian Ocean was the social meaning behind each of their songs. The sound they created certainly was a tribute to India’s rural and modern background and their comprehensive understanding of India’s soul and spirit.
It's hard to believe that greater fame has eluded an impeccable and mature band like Indian Ocean that has been around for over 15 years with five albums under its belt and two movies to its credit that includes the controversial ‘Black Friday’. Well, these are the few imponderables of India that none can comprehend!
Syed Ali Mujtaba
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