Oct 08, 2018
“India’s pioneering rock band, Indian Ocean, will be performing with Grammy Award winning saxophonist and composer George Brooks on Oct 10th in the Bay Area! Indian Ocean is India’s biggest underground success in the Indian fusion and rock scene. Their sound can be described as “Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution.” George Brooks is a prolific saxophonist and composer famous for successfuly bridging together the worlds of jazz and Indian classical music. He is the founder of several fusion music groups. George Brooks studied with vocalist Pandit Pran Nath in India in the ’80s. His broad and deep knowledge of Indian Ragas has allowed him to collaborate with a number of Indian artists including Zakir Hussain, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Kala Ramnath, Vikku Vinayakram, Sivamani, Shankar Mahadevan, L Subramaniam and now, Indian Ocean! Formed in the early 90s, Indian Ocean has spearheaded the Indian rock scene and is one of India’s few politically conscious bands. A cult band in its own right, the group has amalgamated Indian folk music with Western rock. Culling their lyrics from a variety of languages, including Hindi, Kashmiri, Bengali, Sanskrit and even Aramaic, their music ranges from rocking political anthems to meditative spiritual ballads. Setting the precedent from their first self-titled album (which was the highest selling album by an Indian band at the the time), Indian Ocean has earned rave reviews from the critics and audiences alike. Their third album Kandisa, released in 2000, is considered one of the most important, best-loved albums of contemporary Indian music, while their latest album Tandanu featuring collaborations with metal, Bollywood, and Indian classical artists, has been hailed as “an album that awakens a new consciousness” by Rolling Stone India. The band’s fame and following has not been limited to India’s shores – as their much-stamped passports attest, they are India’s leading global band. Since 2001, Indian Ocean has gracing stages across the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia and South East Asia. They’ve performed and collaborated with the celebrated violinist Pandit L. Subramaniam, legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger, virtuoso Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino and will now be performing with George Brooks for the very time on stage.”