‘Melodies in Indian music are not too complex’

Legendary saxophonist Kenny G, who’s teamed up with santoor player Rahul Sharma, tells Roshni K Olivera that he’s looking forward to playing in India

Renowned saxophonist Kenny G loves India and he is looking forward to coming here again. At the moment he’s very happy having teamed up with well-known santoor player Rahul Sharma for his new album ‘Namaste India’, brought out by Times Music. The album also features a Kenny G and Rahul Sharma style rendition of a soundtrack from Big B’s film Silsila, with Amitabh Bachchan’s voiceover from the original recording. Excerpts of an email interview with Kenny...
Tell us about your collaboration with santoor player Rahul Sharma...what got you interested in this project?
I met Rahul when I performed in India and we got along right away. He sent me, via email, some of his music and said he wanted me to play on some of the songs. I loved his sound and thought it would really be fun to join him and see where the music would take us. I’m very happy with the results.
Are you aware of how popular the Silsila song is in India and about its lyrics?
I am aware because Rahul has told me. I loved the arrangement that Rahul put together.
Has Indian cinema (Bollywood as it's called) ever caught your fancy?
Of course! I think it will be fun to do some music for Indian films someday!
And what do you think about Indian music?
Generally I like Indian music because the melodies are usually not too complex which is how I like music and that’s the way I write music. So I’m naturally attracted to this sound.
Any memories you have of your concert and stay in India in 2008?
Yes... the people. So friendly and helpful. I was really impressed with all the wonderful people I met, including Rahul of course.
Will you be performing here anytime soon?
There are no plans at the moment, but I’m hoping very much that I will be able to come back to India as soon as possible. Perhaps with this collaboration with Rahul, we can perform these songs together live in India.
Rahul on Kenny
“I have a lot of respect for Kenny. The world knows him as a saxophone player. I have seen this amazing ability in him to improvise. You give him a melody and he works on it and adds to it. I have collaborated with international artistes earlier, but this collaboration is very special for me. I have composed and played in this album. Having Kenny play seven songs was very satisfying for me. We hope to take this association further now by performing together in India. We would like to have concerts in the near future.”