Phil Scarff and MoonArra bring ragas, rhythm and jazz to Bengaluru

If you thought jazz and Hindustani classical were on different musical spectrums, Music – The Harvest Horn of Plenty, could give you pause for thought. This concert is a collaborative effort between Boston-based Phil Scarff and MoonArra, a world fusion ensemble in Bengaluru founded by Jagadeesh MR and Madhuri Jagadeesh.

To understand how this unusual musical alliance came about, The Hindu MetroPlus spoke to Phil Scarff, who was in Guwahati before his concert in the city.

Phil Scarff began playing the saxophone when he was about 11, gravitating towards jazz groups before moving to Boston for gigs with like-minded musicians. There, he met Warren Senders, a jazz musician, who had been playing Hindustani music for years. Smitten as he was by this new sound, Phil says he could not always follow Warren’s directions.

“His instructions for improvisation were intriguing and challenging to execute, and I couldn’t always comprehend them. I realised later his instructions were derived from raag grammar.”

In the pre-internet era, Phil says he continued his education listening to LPs and attending the handful of Hindustani concerts which took place in Boston at the time. “Around 1984, Warren organised an ensemble that included the sitar and tabla; he played string bass, and I, the soprano saxophone. We were joined by Steve Gorn who played the bansuri.”

Phil Scarff
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

As soon as he heard Steve play, Phil says he decided, to undertake an in-depth study of Hindustani music. He began his education under Kalpana Mazumdar, a Hindustani vocalist in Boston before coming to India to learn from leading sunri artist Pt. Suryakant Khaladkar. “The sunri, much like the shehnai are similar to the sax, making it a good model from which to learn how to play this genre of music.”

He continued his studies with vocalist Pt. Shreeram Devasthali, and later on with shehnai maestro Pt. Shyamrao Lonkar. “In between my trips to India, I started studying with Peter Row, a sitarist in Boston. Being a Western musician who had learnt Hindustani music, he could explain concepts in ways I could understand better.”

In 1987, Phil put together an ensemble that combined jazz, Hindustani, and music from West Africa. “I wanted to take these three traditions and combine them. Tabla artist Jerry Leake, bassist Mike Rivard and myself started as a trio. Today, Natraj and the Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group is a quintet, with the three of us, the founding members, still there.”

The years went by and Phil was invited to present a full-fledged Hindustani concert in Kohlapur in 2008. “Though I had doubts about the turnout, I realised it was a great opportunity. I had close to three months to prepare and was shocked when I came out to perform to a packed house of 250.”

Phil’s performance was highly appreciated, earning him recurring invites to concerts in India. Around eight years ago, he became acquainted with the Bangalore School of Music and MoonArra.

“I believe this is another phase of one’s education: playing in concerts and collaborating with various artistes. Though in India, I usually perform at Hindustani concerts or jugalbandis with Carnatic artistes, my sets with MoonArra will largely comprise fusion pieces based on raags.”

MoonArra is recording an album of original songs written and composed by Madhuri and Phil, based on Indian classical influences with arrangements by Jagadeesh and creative inputs by Jataveda Banerjee.

Music – The Harvest Horn of Plenty will be a 90-minute performance featuring Phil Scarff on the soprano sax, guitarist Jagadeesh MR, vocalists Madhuri Jagadeesh and Jataveda Banerjee, with Adarsh Shenoy on the tabla

Music – The Harvest Horn of Plenty will be presented at Alliance Française de Bangalore, at 7pm on January 14. Tickets priced at ₹500 are available on District.