Indian Interaction with non-Indian Music

In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the rock and roll fusions with Indian music were popular throughout Europe and North America. Ali Akbar Khan’s in the year 1955 performance in the United States was possibly the beginning of this movement.

source of picture: en.wikipedia.org

Jazz pioneers like John Coltrane who recorded a composition entitled India during the 1961 sessions for his song Live at the Village Vanguard (the track was not released until the year 1963 on Coltrane’s album Impressions) also embraced this mixture. George Harrison (of the Beatles) played the sitar on the song Norwegian Wood (this Birds has Flown) in the year 1965, and sparked interest from Shankar, who later took Harrison as his trainee. Jazz inventor Miles Davis recorded and performed with artists such as Khalil Balakrishna, Bihari Sharma and Badal Roy in his post- 1968 electric groups. Virtuoso jazz guitarist John McLaughlin spent many years in Madurai learning Carnatic music and incorporated it into several of his acts including Shakti that featured prominent Indian artists. Other western musicians like the Incredible String band; the Rolling Stone, Grateful Dead, the Move and Traffic soon incorporated Indian influences and instruments and added Indian performers. Noble Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia joined guitarists Sanjay Mishra on his classic CD Blue Incantation (1995). Mishra also wrote a new score for French Director Eric Heumann for his film Port Djema in the year 1996 that won best score at the Hamptons film festival and the Golden Bear at Berlin. In the year 2000 he recorded rescue with drummer Dennis Chambers Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin and in the year 2006 Chateau Benares with guests DJ Logic and Keller Williams (guitar and bass).

In the late 1980s, Indian-British musicians mixed Indian and western traditions to make the Asian underground. Since the 1990s, Canadian born artist, Nadaka, who has spent most of his life in India, has been making music that is an acoustic mixture of Indian classical music with western patterns. One such singer who has merged the Bhakti sangeet tradition of India with the western non-Indian music is Krishna Das and sells music records of his musical sadhana. Another instance is Indo-Canadian artist Vandana Vishwas who has experimented with the western music in her song Monologues produced in the year 2013 January.

In the new millennium, American hip pop has featured Indian filmi and bhangra. The normal hip pop musicians have sampled songs from Bollywood movies and have collaborated with the Indian musicians. Instances include Erick Sermon, Redman’s  React and Timberland’s, Slum Village’s Disco and Truth Hurts hit song addictive that samples a Lata Mangeshkar song and the black eyed peas sampled Asha Bhosle’s song Yeh mera Dil in their hit single Don’t Phunk  with my Heart. In the year 1997, the British band Cornershop paid tribute to Asha Bhosle with their song Brimful of Asha that became an international hit. British-born Indian musician Panjabi MC also had a Bhangra hit in the United States, with Mundian to Bach Ke which featured rapper Jay-Z. Asian Dub foundation are not huge normal stars, but their politically charged rap and punk rock influenced sound has a multi-racial viewer in their local United Kingdom. In the year 2008, international star Snoop Dogg appeared in a song in the film Singh is Kinng. In the year 2007, hip hop producer, Madlib produced Beat Konducta Vol. 3 and 4: Beat Konducta in India; an album that heavily samples and is inspired by the music of India.

Sometimes, the music of India will mix with the folk music of other countries. For instance, Delhi 2 Dublin, a band based in Canada, is known for mixing Indian and Irish music, and Bhangraton is a mixture of Bhangra music with reggaeton, which itself is a combination of hip pop, reggae and the traditional Latin American music.

In a more current instance of Indian-British mixture, Laura marling along with Mumford and Sons collaborated in the year 2010 with the Dharohar Project on a four song EP.