The fusion of two great musical traditions, jazz and classical Indian music, is exactly what you can expect to find in abundance on May 25 at the Caravan World Rhythms Masters of Wind concert featuring three world class musicians: American jazz saxophone player George Brooks, Indian bansuri player Ronu Majumdar and Indian tabla player Ramdas Palsule.

Robert Benaroya, founder and managing artistic director of Caravan, is convinced that bringing music and dance from around the world to Vancouver’s already culturally diverse audiences is a natural fit. He believes that music and dance invoke different aspects of human experience depending on where they come from, and he finds it personally enriching to watch the local audience partake in their discovery.

And when it comes to selecting fusion music for Caravan to feature, Benaroya has high standards.

“I need to sense that the original tradition of each style or genre of music that is mixed is not lost, and also that some new feeling or vibe is created by bringing different genres together, so that it is not just each musician taking turns playing his or her style of music,” he says.

A little bit jazz, a little bit raga

George Brooks, a highly acclaimed U.S. jazz saxophonist and composer and member of Masters of Wind, has had a long love affair with raga, an ancient and popular melodic mode of Indian classical music that uses a series of five or more musical notes to construct the melody.

Brooks has studied raga for decades, most notably with Indian master vocalist Pandit Pran Nath, and has collaborated with the legendary American minimalist composer Terry Riley, as well as Indian classical music greats Zakir Hussain and Hariprasad Chaurasia.

Brooks, who has a deep reverence for the musical style, says that raga will feature predominantly in the upcoming Vancouver concert.

“I like to keep my improvisations in such a way that someone who is an experienced listener to Indian classical music will understand which ragas I am expressing. I don’t really want to play free jazz on top of a raga, because I really believe in the power of the raga,” he says.

Indian classical music has rich spiritual roots, and Brooks believes that the saxophone is well suited to embodying that element because of how it grounds the musician’s breath.

“It becomes a meditative thing, it’s really incorporated in your whole body,” he says.

Playing with the flow

Saxophonists George Brooks (left) and Bansuri flutist Ronu Majumdar (right) performing at Yoshis, San Francisco, may 2010. Photos courtesy of George Brooks.

Both jazz and raga use improvisation, and Brooks feels that so much can be forged through fusion when Indian musicians who are trained in classical Indian forms are curious about exploring harmony and a Western approach to improvisation.

Brooks’ long-time collaborator and Indian bansuri (flute) master, Ronu Majumdar, has played with the likes of Ravi Shankar and George Harrison. Majumdar sees improvisation as inherent to both musical traditions.

“Jazz music has lots of improvisational space in its format, like Indian classical music. The only difference is that improvisation in raga is within the structure, and jazz improvisation is based on harmony, hence these two genres are always very interesting to merge,” he says.

Brooks has collaborated and toured widely with Majumdar as part of the group Bombay Jazz. They also played as Masters of Wind in India alongside jazz guitarist Larry Coryell. However, at the Vancouver concert, Brooks and Majumdar will be joined by Ramdas Palsule, who is renowned for his mastery of the tabla, hand drums similar to bongos and unique for their variety of different sounds.

Both Brooks and Majumdar have played in Vancouver before, and they look forward to leaving their cosmopolitan audience with a feeling of good vibrations and a loving atmosphere.

Masters of Wind –Indian and Jazz Music Concert
May 25, 8 p.m.
Vancouver Community College Auditorium (1155 East Broadway St.)
For more information,
and to buy tickets, go to
http://www.caravanbc.com