Kronos goes to Bollywood

Kronos goes to Bollywood

The dynamic Kronos Quartet, keeping with their whole-hearted embrace of contemporary music, has turned their attentions to the musical world of Bollywood on their 2005 album You’ve Stolen My Heart (Nonesuch). Since the group was formed in 1973, Kronos has been on the cutting edge of the music scene, reconceiving, even doing away with, the traditional role of the string quartet. They have collaborated with Terry Riley in a 2002 multimedia performance commissioned by NASA, worked with artists from Dave Matthews to Darren Aronofsky to Twyla Tharp, and recorded much of the great twentieth century chamber music repertoire. Now they have turned their attentions across the globe to the hugely popular Bollywood, a name given to the largest part of the Indian film industry. This album was made as a tribute to the late, great R.D. Burman. Burman is considered by many to be the greatest Bollywood film composer of all time, which is quite a feat bearing in mind that by the time of his death in 1994, Bollywood was producing 700 movies a year, almost all of them musicals. He composed for 331 released movies, and not minimalist or subtlely artsy films. Bollywood movies have a distinct reputation for the melodramatic, with love, action, and comedy all sung and danced exuberantly.
The featured singer and Burman’s wife, Asha Bhosle, is equally as accomplished. David Harrington, first violinist for Kronos and producer of the record (a first for him), describes her as “the Queen of Bollywood,” a certainly deserved title. The soundtracks for Bollywood movies are recorded by “playback singers,” Bhosle being one of the foremost and prolific with over 13,000 tracks recorded in her career. In fact, she is believed by many to be the most recorded singer ever.
And you would never guess she was seventy two when she made You’ve Stolen My Heart. This is the first Kronos album to feature a lead singer, with Bhosle performing on eight of the twelve tracks. Part of the effectiveness of both vocal and instrumental melodies comes from the fact that Bhosle is singing in Hindi. Much like Italian opera, it is her sounds and music, not her words, which have to express her meaning to us English speakers. Take the groovy fourth track on the album, “Ekta Deshlai Kathi Jwalao (Light A Match).” The laid-back rhythms, lively vocals, and interspersed sing/talk give it all the significance it needs to be enjoyed, even if we have no idea why or who is lighting a match. Vintage sounds and exotic percussion and even strains of the James Bond theme accompany spirited singing on “Saiyan Re Saiyan (My Lover Came Silently),” another rhythmically vibrant track that ends the album.
The fluid and undulating Bollywood style of singing also translates well to stringed instruments, especially those in the skilled hands of Kronos. “Nodir Pare Utthchhe Dhnoa (Smoke Rises Across The River)” shows off Jennifer Culp’s melodious cello, accompanied by tabla and sounds evocative of an Indian landscape. It was fun to hear the Quartet essentially take on cinematic roles as soloists on the instrumental tracks. Too bad they didn’t dance too.
Kronos forays into film music have been highly successful, having recorded soundtracks for such films as 21 Grams and Requiem for a Dream, and this is no exception. They embrace this fun and energetic style with unique arrangements and collaborations that just make for a good time, especially if you appreciate the sounds of Bollywood.