Indian classical music evolved and refined over millennia, passed from guru to disciple, often within families. In the late 1800's, yoga preceded Indian music traveling West. But it was only 1955 that Indian classical music made landfall in New York with a performance by the great Ali Akbar Kahn. The next year, Ravi Shankar performed. Pop musicians in the 1960's discovered and incorporated those world beats and seeded early interests in Indian spiritualism and yoga.
Early too, the Asia Society also drew performers from East to West. Beginning in the 1960's with Peace Corps I, volunteers coming off station pioneered backpacker routes including Goa, Kathmandu and points between. Interest in yoga, bharatanatyam and ayurveda traveled together with Indian music and Westerns traveled to India to study them.
A few years later, world music enthusiasts and the new Indiaphiles recruited touring Indian musicians to perform classical concerts, including in Portland. The Indian diaspora, including in technology, laid down a base of support, Indian families passing on their traditions to Western-raised children.
Western musicians incorporating Indian music into fusion forms, and performing in purely traditional mode are now in the third generation. This is that.
Musicians Steve Gorn, bansuri and Benjy Wertheimer, tabla, perform tonight. Both have long histories of pop music collaborations, film scoring, fusion and pure classical performance. The program ranges classical to Indian folk music.
Advance tickets www.brightstarevents.net/show.cfm?id=4553. Indian music at the Movement Center 1021 Northeast 33rd 7PM $15 advance, $20 door.
Place opens Felicity Fenton with Internal Server Error, themed on her personal web use. It includes artistic interpretations of her web history and Offline, a paper-based collection of old information forms. Freedom: Godot Has Finally Arrived by Gabrijel Savic Ra is a conceptual meditation on freedom. Rogue Waves by Nathanael Thayer Moss, Safe & Sound? and Radio Room by Stephanie Simek continue. All at Place, www.placepdx.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. If the mall appears closed, enter the film theater building adjacent, travel through the tunnel to the Place mall, and take the elevator to the 3rd floor, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 5PM-9 Free
At the same location, the Mark Woolley Gallery and People's Art of Portland will likely be eventing.
