Peter Lavezzoli – The Dawn of Indian Music in the West – Bhairavi
21. 10. 2007 | Rubriky: Articles,Book reviews
[by Ken Hunt, London] There can be little doubt about the impact the Indian subcontinent’s music has had abroad. Indeed, the tale is too big for one book, even Peter Lavezzoli’s remarkable Dawn of Indian Music in the West – Bhairavi. He names the usual, vital suspects like Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, John Coltrane, John McLaughlin, Trilok Gurtu, Yehudi Mehuhin, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, George Harrison, Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain.
Wisely, the author steers well clear of the far-from-plain tales of Raj-era India and its influences on the Western mind through music and philosophy, as illustrated by certain compositions by, say, John Foulds and Gustav Holst in Britain. In any case that part of the story is covered by Gerry Farrell’s Indian Music And The West (1997) – a book that The Dawn of Indian Music in the West complements well. Lavezzoli’s focus is on how the subcontinent’s two classical music systems affected jazz and rock in the United States after the 1950s. And how they hybridised.
Original interviews, coupled with some astute analysis, provide the foundation of Lavezzoli’s tale. To give a flavour, the drummer and percussionist Mickey Hart comments incisively, if slightly mystically for anyone unfamiliar with the maestro, “…when I listen to Ali Akbar Khan, when he disappears, and the music disappears, I’m there. When I’m not listening to the ‘great guru,’ then I know he’s done his job. No disrespect to Khansahib, but when Khansahib disappears, that’s when he’s Khansahib.”
Without reviewing what isn’t in the book – as opposed to what is – certain things must be stated. To generalise, the book concentrates on Indian – as opposed to Indo-Pakistani influences – so no Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan into Massive Attack or Fun^da^Mental. It covers Indian classical music’s energising of the Beatles and Byrds and touches on Traffic, yet its treatment of the music’s wider impact outside the USA is perfunctory. Omitting the raga rock of New Zealand’s 40 Watt Banana or the enthusiastic reception Indian musicians received in Japan is understandable, but surely excluding the impact of Indian film music – India’s greatest musical export – on the global mind is curious.
One thing that needs improvement is the patchy, less-than-diligent index. You will find Charlie Mariano, Steve Winwood and David Harrington but not Embryo (or Dissidenten), Traffic or the Kronos Quartet. It weakens the book’s usefulness. That aside, The Dawn of Indian Music in the West joins the required reading list for anybody moved by, or interested in the subject. And between it and Farrell’s Indian Music And The West the ground is well covered.
Peter Lavezzoli – The Dawn of Indian Music in the West – Bhairavi Continuum, ISBN 0-8264-1815-5