Simon Thacker and the Nava Rasa Ensemble – Inner Octaves @ Hall Two, The Sage Gateshead

Indian-Western Classical Fusion

3.11.09

Reviewed by Hedd Thomas

As a showcase of how Indian and Western music can influence each other, this night was a resounding success. It also, however, showed that when musicians from different backgrounds and disciplines come together their respective styles of performing can be somewhat conflicting.

Led by the acclaimed Scottish guitarist Simon Thacker, the Nava Rasa Ensemble is an exciting new international group consisting of Carnatic violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, tabla master Sarvar Sabri, Brazilian bassist Mario Caribé, multi-percussionist Iain Sandilands and The Edinburgh Quartet. The concert would be a test of the musicians' ability to sound and look good whilst 'fusing' their approaches as the genre demands.

They succeeded in the first part of the challenge: the sound they created was very good. There was a beautiful tone coming from The Edinburgh Quartet's principal violinist, Tristan Gurney, in the first piece of the concert, a duet for violin and guitar by the farther of minimalism Terry Riley. The quality of Srikanth's and Sabri's playing in their following raga was “captivating and virtuosic,” as one member of the audience put it. When playing together they managed to create an array of moods to suit the music, from dark and eerie drones to bright and playful melodies, sounding, for the most part, as one unit. The Edinburgh Quartet managed the complicated rhythms well, ones which would be alien to their usual classical repertoire.

With regards to looking good, however, the Nava Rasa leave much to be desired. With most buried in their copies there seemed to be little interaction between any of the performers. Even when there was comic play in the music there was little of it on stage. Srikanth's encouraging smile implied she was the only musician enjoying herself. This was sadly reflected in the audience whose responses were apprehensive: there were no wild claps after virtuosic solo sections, there was no call for an encore.

But Inner Octaves is about how composers, rather than performers, approach their own music. Two brand new commissions were performed, the first by the British composer Nigel Osborne titled The Birth of Nacitekas for guitar concertante. Based on an ancient Indian myth that demonstrates the 10 basic skills for life, it is an impressive display of instrumentation and phrasing. With harmonics on cello and Tirlok Gurtu-esque percussion, the gradual build from a haunting, dormant rest to a lively awakening made the first half of this concerto a definite highlight of the night. The other highlight was the second movement of Shirish Korde's NADA-ANANDA (the joy of sound), which brought the ensemble together in an upbeat mood but which allowed space for the qualities of the different musicians to shine through.

Inner Octave's aim was to explore the confluences between Indian and Western music. This they did well while also inadvertently exposing the areas where they do not meet, which left the listener with the lasting impression that a studio recording would have been more rewarding than a concert. Yet the young Nava Rasa Ensemble have made their own unique sound and with experience on the world music circuit they will surely become an established crowd-pleaser.

Rating: 3/5

Simon Thacker and the Nava Rasa Ensemble will be concluding their tour this week with appearances in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London. For tour details, see http://www.simonthacker.com/navarasa7.htm