An eclectic mix of Indian and Western music

BANGALORE: B Flat and Radio Indigo will present Indian Blue (Kolkata) world fusion on June 24 at 8.30 pm. Hindustani Classical music forms the base of this band’s brand of world fusion, its primary inspiration and the framework.The leader of the band is Sarode player Shiraz Ali Khan, grandson of the great Dr Ustad Ali Akbar Khan; The sound of Sarode in fusion music is a novel and successful innovation, which Shiraz has tried implementing with his band. His fusion album Inner Voyage has become an integral melody of the band. The composition depicts jazz music in a most Indian way.Indian Blue has adopted musical excerpts from the compositions of Shiraz’s grandfather Dr Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and from his albums Journey and Garden of Dreams. These albums have been the biggest influence so far. His experiment with Asha Bhosle in the vocal in the album Legacy has created history.Shiraz Ali Khan was born in Kolkata (March 18, 1985) and completed his academics in Patha Bhavan School, Kolkata, he has decided to pursue a career in music.Shiraz Ali Khan is a great grand son of legendary Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan, grandson of Late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and son of Late Dhyanesh Khan Shiraz. As a young child he started learning music from his father.His father is his first guru.This training was short-lived due to the untimely death of his father. His grandfather, Late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, his uncle Ustad Aashish Khan, and his aunt Ameena Perera then took on to mentor him.From the tender age of eight, he had also started his tabla taalim under the guidance of Pandit Shankar Ghosh, but eventually decided to continue with the sarod. He gave his first solo sarode recital in public at the age of fifteen in the Ram Krishna Mission Institute of Culture in September 9 in 2000. He also performed at the Baba Allauddin Khan Sangeet Samaraoh in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh in February, 2003 and twice in the Allauddin Khan Sammelan in Kolkata to commemorate his great grandfather and at the 58th annual session of Doverlane Music Conference 2010.Indian Classical music forms the base, primary inspiration and the framework with Western classical blues, jazz, gypsy, soft rocks and other music genres enriching its fabric for this band. The makers of this music owe their ideas and the skills to the legendary Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan of Maihar Senia Gharana who, for the first time in the history of Indian classical music, introduced the concept of the band, to be carried on by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Aashish Khan after him.