Gig Preview: Secret Masters Sessions Encore in Mumbai

Eminent vocalist Arun Kashalkar will perform at the first edition of Secret Masters Sessions Encore. Photo: Courtesy of First Edition Arts

It’s not just indie alt rockers and metal bands who have talent pools that go unappreciated. For the world of Hindustani classical music, there’s Secret Masters Sessions, which was kicked off in April last year by Mumbai-based events company First Edition Arts.

They went on to curate four shows in the space of 11 months. Their first session was with eminent vocalist Arun Kashalkar. First Edition Arts co-founder Devina Dutt says, “The idea was that there were these excellent musicians but were virtually unknown and off the mainstream and even music lovers hadn’t heard of them or experienced their music. The thought was that they and their art and their music were a secret.”

The series is now back, entitled Secret Masters Sessions Encore presented by the Indian Music Group and First Edition Arts. Kashalkar returns to inaugurate the first show of the second edition, which will be held on June 24th at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. “When we concluded the first year, we started thinking that we need to do a follow-up series,” says Dutt.

Here is an excerpt from our interview with Dutt:

What can people expect at the show?

They can expect Hindustani classical music of a very high order and at its exciting best. There is this kind of myth and made up feeling about classical music being boring and unable to speak to young people. But when you hear musicians like the Secret Masters and many others like them of all ages who choose artistic integrity over popularity, you get to see this music rich in improvisation and indescribable artistry, at its very best. In particular the way Arun Kashalkar plays with rhythm is hugely engaging. It is very live, intense and in the moment music. It is the real thing. It is not predigested or safe, bland music which is what the market would perhaps like this art to become.

What are you hoping to achieve from the series?

I just want them [artists] to be heard more and more, I think these are the musicians and others like them who are kept on the margins. It’s a huge pity and loss to the ecosystem, because had they been around and had they been heard in their prime, they would have influenced the taste, knowledge and preferences of younger musicians as well as listeners. Today, we are faced with several musicians who won’t make the difficult choice of eschewing fame and celebrity for truthfulness to their art and themselves. So it is a case of better late than never.

What is coming up next for the series?

Right now, we are planning to take these musicians to other cities. There’s a lot to do. We’d love to take them abroad too. We are documenting every concert and putting it up online. We also want to take the artists into a studio and record as well as film them. I just feel perpetually greedy! I mean you’ve got to just hang out with them, because they really do represent some of the finest achievements of Hindustani classical music.

Click here for event details.