Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull played some unusual music with Anoushka Shankar, the talented daughter of sitar maestro Pandit Ravishankar, even as the audience kept an eye out for rain.
Anoushka kicked off the show with a couple of her father's raga compositions. She avoided the traditional alaap-jod-jhala elaboration and its meditative unfolding, and rushed instead into fast tempo compositions.
Don't hold that against her. Her illustrious dad has tried that very trick when faced with an audience more familiar with headbanging than concert-hall connoisseurship. He has been able to convert some from among such crowds into more sober listeners.
Perhaps Anoushka too will as she grows into her role as inheritor of the Ravishankar legacy, but here she was doing some well-thought-out short numbers rather than inspired raga essays. She brought a youthful innocence to the overall proceedings.
Her playing showed some of the lyricism and sparkle of her dad's style; she excelled when it came to fast improvisation, but then, it takes a lot more than speed to become a rasika's delight.
Anoushka wound up after playing an unusual raga called Pancham se Gara, and set the stage for Jethro Tull, who made a dramatic entry and gave their fans music they had heard and loved through five decades.
The British band comprises, besides singer and flute player Anderson, guitarists Martin Barre and David Goodier, keyboardist John O'Hara, and a drummer, all of whom played with the kind of flair that comes only from constant concert experience together.
Jethro Tull was founded about 50 years ago, and its musical emphasis has evolved and mutated from time to time. Many of those changing influences were reflected in the songs they chose to play at this concert.
Most numbers, including those from the 1972 albums Living from the Past and Thick as a Brick, had rock adrenaline as the defining element, and the pulsating intensity was emphasised by the aggressive, stylish flute playing of Anderson. But the band also played some slow, very acoustic-sounding numbers, using instruments such as the harmonica and the congos.
The final session, when Anoushka came back on stage to perform with Jethro Tull, was mellower and more friendly to ears not accustomed to the rock style. Irish cradle was among the softer numbers that provided a contrast to the band's more insistent songs.
In one number, Anoushka played snatches of ragas such as Kiravani and Yaman, and Anderson came in and played some unison passages with her and the keyboardist. The band also offered, with some Indian flavour thrown in by Anoushka, a witty, thoroughly enjoyable reworking of a Bach movement titled Bouree.
Anderson spoke, sang, joked, danced and played a variety of instruments. He saluted Sir Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, who recently turned 65, but let it be said he deserves similar applause for his own performing zest.
The music he and Anoushka are playing on their Indian tour may not be in the same league as the music played by Ravishankar and Yehudi Menuhin, but it isn't kitschy pop either. Jethro Tull and Anoushka are musicians whose sophistication can't be denied, and they are determined to keep you entertained. This collaboration, even if uneven, is a sweet hit.
