The Brown Indian Band led by bass player Colin D’Cruz, features accomplished Indian classical musicians in concert with jazz virtuosos. The band is managed by Mumbai based Mardigras Entertainment and performs on a resident contract at the JW Marriott hotel in Mumbai. From the time the band began playing there in April 2006, guests have made regular inquiries about where they could buy a CD of this soothing new sound of indo-jazz fusion. This led to the band’s debut album E-Fusion being launched and merchandised by the hotel.
Indian classical music, like jazz, is all about improvised music. Indian classical music is linear and improvisation is based on just one scale (raga). Jazz on the other hand has a broader palette where multiple scales are often used to improvise through harmonic changes.
Indian classical music is known to be very melancholic, whereas jazz can be extremely exuberant. Indian classical music however, has subtle quarter tones and complex rhythm structures that add a whole new dimension to jazz.
The Brown Indian Band’s E-Fusion is a seamless blend of the two forms of musical improvisation. The hour long album features four tracks based on different ragas and grooves.
Yaman Yatra is a long lazy trip through raag Yaman set to a chilled lounge beat. Bagya Boogie, based on raag Bageshree, is more upbeat and features some brilliant synthesizer and fretless bass solos. Gin Jyoti, spontaneously created from raag Jhinjoti, is driven by a funky drum ‘n’ bass groove and spiked with some heady percussion. And finally a path breaking Deshi Salsa presents the bansuri (bamboo flute) in raag Desh, performed for the first time to an infectious salsa groove.
E-Fusion is produced by Colin D’Cruz. The album title has nothing to do with the current age we live in, it’s called E-Fusion simply because all four tunes in the album are performed in the key of E!
Download Deshi Salsa mp3 at http://www.brownindianband.com.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
