A journey that began in 1985

Phil Scarff will be in Hyderabad to perform North Indian classical music on the Soprano Saxophone as part of the 99th birth anniversary of legendary tabla maestro Ustad Shaik Dawood Saheb of Hyderabad.

Says Phil, “It was a mesmerising recording of Ustad Bismillah Khan that drew my attention towards North Indian classical music. Since 1985, my journey seeking Indian classical music started with vocalist Shreeram Devasthali, Sundri artiste Suryakant Khaladkar, and Shehnai player Shyamrao Lonkar. I started annual performance tours to India from 2008 onwards.

“I find there is a lack of advanced planning from presenters and organisers in India to invite international artistes. There is also no system of signing contracts about details of programmes in terms of action plan, mode and time of payment of remuneration, lodging, boarding and other requirements. Many are laid-back; sometimes, even the sound engineer asks for the microphone requirements after we reach the venue. It would be nice if one is given a printed programme material in advance of the ‘performance pieces’, artiste details and about music in general. There is a lot of commonality in Jazz and North Indian music in terms of improvisation and thought process while the structure defers to a large extent. I am enjoying every moment of it,” says Phil.