JGT: You have done more than any guitarist I have known to bring Indian music and western music together. Please tell us about the new project “Is That So” with Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain.
John: ‘Is That So’ has its roots in the Shakti traditions, but is a new form that could have its own evolution and development. Now while it’s true that I began studying North and South Indian music as far back as 1969, I never had the desire to become an “Indian musician” in the sense that I would master an Indian instrument such as the Vina or Sitar and perform the classical style of either North or South. I grew up as a western musician, first as a piano student and then the guitar. Once I discovered the beauty of Indian music and it’s common ground with Jazz, my desire was and remains to this day, to be able to play with these master musicians.
From the beginnings of Shakti, I always had the desire to find ways to integrate harmony, the one aspect of western music that doesn’t exist in Indian music. It is quite delicate in the sense that playing in a raga setting, you cannot simply impose arbitrary chords, they have to be directly relative to the raga. However, I always looked to bend the rules in order to enhance and complement the soloist, and this was a work in itself.
About 7 years ago after working and playing with Shankar Mahadevan for many years, I had the idea to abandon all rules East and West and harmonize the improvisations and songs of Shankar. This idea goes against all preconceived notions about how a song should be sung, and how harmonic progression in a western sense, should move. We started with less than a minute of collaboration, and we were so thrilled with the result we knew we had to continue wherever this new form would lead us.