Song of success: Flautist Rakesh Chaurasia on Grammies, guru and the night like no other

It was a night unlike any other Sitting with some of the best known musicians from across the world and genres in Los Angeles Cryptocom arena flautist Rakesh Chaurasia says he wasnt really prepared to get a Grammy notwithstanding his two nominationsBut he did and in both categories It was his first nomination at global musics most celebrated award ceremony and just that was almost enough the 52yearold saidI felt it was fine that I got the nomination but thats it because when I was sitting there talking about other people who were there they got their awards after six nominations or nine nominations But god is kind to me that the album came out in 2023 only it got the nominations the same year and now the awards Rakesh Chaurasia told PTI in a telephonic interview from the Los Angeles airport late Monday nightThe first Grammy was as part of the ensemble of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain American banjo player Bela Fleck and American bassist Edgar Meyer for the best global music performance for Pashto and the second for best contemporary instrumental album for As We SpeakPashto is one of the 12 songs in the fusion album As We SpeakTalking with fellow musicians at the glittering event on Sunday night LA time Rakesh Chaurasia felt oddly assured it wasnt his time yetSitting at the airport waiting for his flight back home to Mumbai the flautist talked to PTI about receiving the award his inspirations and global music at largeGrowing up under the tutelage of flautist and uncle Hariprasad Chaurasia and watching the likes of Zakir Hussain create magic with the tabla Rakesh Chaurasia credited the two legends for inspiring him to follow the way of musicHussain who received three Grammys continues to perform with the two generations of the Chaurasias the uncle and the nephew the guru and the shishyaThere is always something to learn from him Hussain Since childhood I have admired him and watched him He used to accompany babu ji my guru Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and when they both were performing together it was an amazing experience one had to be there to really witness the magic Rakesh Chaurasia saidIts a blessing for me to be a witness when they are performing and realise that I have played with them These are a bunch of musicians who are really gods in music he addedCarrying the legacy of a grand figure such as Hariprasad Chaurasia does come with some challenges but he said he has managed to use them to be better at his workIts like a coin it has two sides it feels very great at the same time its worrying because you are carrying such a big name on your shoulders Because people will always compare me with my uncleSo its good in a way that I am on my toes all the time keep practising and try to do better and better I cannot reach where he has taken the flute but at least I have been keeping the family name going and keeping this instrument alive the musician saidEven though musicians such as sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar Hussain and his own uncle made a mark in global music Chaurasia believes there is still time before the country appreciates music that mixes Indian classical and different western stylesThis kind of music has its own listeners When I played with the Pashto team in the US there were 6070000 people There were people as far as you could see It has its own place its own genre because they keep listening to it they are used to it and know how to appreciate this kind of musicIndians took a little time to get used to jazz blues and rock and fusion also So it will take time for people to understand and get used to this kind of music When good musicians from different parts of the world come together something good will definitely come out of it the musician notedFive Indian musicians Hussain Rakesh Chaurasia singer Shankar Mahadevan violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram bagged Grammys this yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever