'Sarangi suits jazz really well'

Jazz and Indian classical fusion is more understood by a jazz musician or an Indian classical musician? Kamal Sabri has demonstrated profound versatility in playing the sarangi. He played at the Jazz Music Festival last year with his sarangi, and made the fusion seem mellifluous.

He believes in setting new trends in music and promotes classical music through fusion with other alternate forms.

“It would be nice have a ‘sarangi symphony’, ‘sarangi concerto’ and Bollywood songs played on sarangi” he says. His hopes with Indian classical are high. He tells Metrolife how he made the jazz and sarangi fusion possible.

“Sarangi suits jazz really well. The name of sarangi is actually ‘saurangi’, which means 100 colours, but actually it has more than just 100. To play in jazz is one of its colours,” says the sarangi maestro.

He is the son of sarangi legend Ustad Sabri Khan and is carrying forward the rich legacy of the Sania gharana of Moradabad with singular dedication.He formed the first jazz band ‘Soul of India’.

“It was highly appreciated. We performed some old jazz songs, such as Afro Blues. Some of my compositions were named Jazzy Rangi and Give me five,” he says.

He explains that when we use an Indian musical instrument in jazz, it renders an
Indian touch to it, which makes the tunes nuanced.

“Indian classical music system is very close to jazz music, but Indian classical music is more soulful and it depends on the ragas, which are very different from jazz. Jazz is more compositional, you have to use chords while you play jazz. When you blend it together, you create a melody on a basic scale, then develop that melody and also play solo pieces. It can be much more complicated but this is just basic,” he says.

But how did you venture into jazz from classical music? “I have spent most of my childhood in the West. I used to travel with my father, for Indian classical music concerts and there I became a part of a jazz music band ‘Sabri Ensemble’, which was formed by my elder brother Sarvar Sabri. I learnt how to play jazz music on sarangi. Later I was introduced to many jazz musicians and I got the opportunity to play with them and that’s how I became familiar with jazz,” he explains.