Asha Bhosle records with American band
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<< I’ve just recorded with them in San Francisco. It was a pleasure reliving Pancham’s songs in such a unique way," says Asha Bhosle, recounting her experience of recording the songs of her late husband R D Burman with an American jazz band.
"There were Pancham’s film songs like Piya Tu Ab To Aaja and Dum Maro Dum. They also selected Pancham’s Bengali songs and few selections from his non-filmi album - Dil Padosi Hai. They called him the Mozart of popular music; they said his arrangements couldn’t have been done by anyone else except Mozart.
Asha BhosleThe album’s release will be accompanied by a live concert, where I’ll go on stage with the four members of the jazz band and sing Pancham’s songs," adds the sprightly singer.
This isn’t the first time that Bhosle has recorded with an international group. "But this one is special because it has to do with one of my favourite composers.
Cronos Corner, the band, got in touch with me through a British source. They were interested in Indian popular music. They went through a list of composers in Mumbai and finally zeroed in on Pancham. They’ve made me sing his songs without changing the beats or the language."
Adding that American listeners are enamoured with our music, she says, "This album is targeted at a foreign audience. They told me that if there’s a good music director in India after Pancham, it’s Hridaynath Mangeshkar (her brother). They’ll record Hridaynath’s songs next, even his Marathi songs."
Back home, Bhosle is all set to release her first album of non-film songs Ghazals by Farida Khannum, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh.
"It is the requirement of the times, I guess. I know some purists will come down heavily on me for daring to tamper with these greats. But when have I ever been daunted by challenges ? >>
MusicIndiaOnline, June, 2005
Zayed