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Intricate connections and cultural contradictions
"For the better and finer enjoyment of Indian music, Western audiences should forget about harmony and counterpoint or the mixed tone colors... and relax rather in the rich melody and rhythm, and with the exquisitely subtle inflections through which the atmosphere of a Raga is built up." - Ravi Shankar, 1956
Indian-influenced music seemed to explode into western culture when George Harrison of the Beatles studied with Ravi Shankar in the 1960s, but avant-garde musicians and jazz performers had discovered the joy and versatility of classical Indian music long before. World and American music continue to draw heavily from Indian music because it offers potential found nowhere else. Jazz brims with connections and is about picking up themes and improvising on them.
There has long been a connection between jazz and Indian music. This cross-cultural pollination has lead to recordings, such as Indian Boogie Shoes (John Handy, Ali Akbar Khan). John McLaughlin, for example, came to prominence as a guitarist with Miles Davis's ensemble, then led an early, and successful, jazz-rock fusion outfit called the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was at the time a devotee of the Indian mystic Sri Chinmoy, which furthered his interest in things Indian. Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Al DiMeola and Lenny White formed "Return to Forever", which was another highly acclaimed Hindustani-influenced jazz fusion effort.
Northern Indian music, which sustains notes, while southern Indian does not, seems to be more suited to melding with Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, North American jazz and other influences. Karnatic or southern Indian music is more a part of everyday life in India, while Hindustani or northern Indian music is of the court and of the intelligentsia, perhaps making it more open to variations and experimentation. Another reason that Hindustani music may adapt to and blend with other influences is that Persian influences were grafted onto the rootstock of Hindustani music during the Mughal empire (1526-1857) when Islamic law was not tolerant of praising other than Allah, so the creative energy of the music had to be malleable.
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