Kala Ramnath Interview
Below is the transcript of my interview with Kala Ramnath; the button link below takes you to the podcast and video versions with all the links to the music and to Kala’s projects. Kala Ramnath is a world-renowned Indian violinist who performs in both the Hindustani classical tradition, and in collaborations that incorporate many styles wi th Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, George Brooks, and leading orchestras, to name but a few. You’ll hear about her childhood, and how she became a disciple of the legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj, leading her to revolutionize her approach to Hindustani violin technique. As a teacher she has put together an incredible resource with an extensive video library that she’s created of Indian music, Indianclassicalmusic.com and you’ll find that linked in the show notes. When I recorded this interview with Kala, she had just the day before returned from the celebration of life for the legendary tabla master Zakir Hussain, who died this past December, and was one of the most important musicians in both Indian music and in bringing a global audience to Indian music. He had moved to San Francisco in the 1960s and was involved in too many projects to begin to list; in 2024 he was the first musician from India to receive 3 Grammys at one ceremony, including his collaboration with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Zakir Hussain was an incredibly important mentor of Kala, and you’ll hear in her words about what his guidance and collaborations meant to her.
Kala Ramnath (00:00:00):
I felt that I wanted to do this because Indian music has never been documented. The art of improvisation is there in India, and it gives you a lot of freedom to do what you want within that structure, but still, that structural aspect should be correct, right? Because of that, I decided I needed to make this website and keep it open for everybody to come there and understand Indian music. Anybody who has any doubt can go there and they'll find all their questions answered. That was the main idea in doing this.
Leah Roseman (00:00:48):
Hi, you're listening to Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman, which I hope inspires you through the personal stories of a fascinating diversity of musical guests. Kala Ramnath is a world-renowned Indian violinist who performs in both the Hindustani classical tradition, and in collaborations that incorporate many styles with Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, George Brooks, and leading orchestras, to name but a few. You’ll hear about her childhood, and how she became a disciple of the legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj, leading her to revolutionize her approach to Hindustani violin technique. As a teacher she has put together an incredible resource with an extensive video library that she’s created of Indian music, Indianclassicalmusic.com and you’ll find that linked in the show notes. When I recorded this interview with Kala, she had just the day before returned from the celebration of life for the legendary tabla master Zakir Hussain, who died this past December, and was one of the most important musicians in both Indian music and in bringing a global audience to Indian music. He had moved to San Francisco in the 1960s and was involved in too many projects to begin to list; in 2024 he was the first musician from India to receive 3 Grammys at one ceremony, including his collaboration with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Zakir Hussain was an incredibly important mentor of Kala, and you’ll hear in her words about what his guidance and collaborations meant to her. Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website Leahroseman.com .It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you every week, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Have a look at the description of this episode, where you’ll find all the links, including timestamps and different ways to support this podcast!
(00:02:41):
Hi, Kala. Thanks so much for joining me today. It's a real honor to be able to do this interview.
Kala Ramnath (00:02:46):
Thank you. Thank you so much, Leah. I am so glad I was able to make it. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (00:02:53):
When I met you in person, you were in Ottawa playing with my orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra. But you're in India now?
Kala Ramnath (00:03:00):
Yeah, I'm in India. I just came back yesterday. I'm still in jet lag, but I'm glad I slept in the afternoon today because it was such a short trip to the US because we lost Zakir Hussain and I was associated with him from childhood. So he's been my, I would say, a mentor, an angel, my brother, elder brother. I can't say what all he's done for me, so it was a big loss for me personally. So I had gone to pay my respects to him and perform there because whoever has had a connection with him was invited there, so I had gone there for that.
Leah Roseman (00:03:55):
Yeah, it's a huge loss for the musical community.
Kala Ramnath (00:03:57):
It is. It can you believe he's no more, but just the mention of his name, and it's saying that it's a celebration of his life. Tickets were sold out in a few hours and 1200 tickets. Even now, he has that charisma to pull audiences.
Leah Roseman (00:04:24):
What are some of your musical memories about him?
Kala Ramnath (00:04:30):
One thing, which I met him just after my father passed away. I was to meet him when my father was there, and on the day I was to meet Zakir bhai, my father had a heart attack, and that was 26th of November in my childhood, and then my dad passed away December, and it was this, and Zakir bhai passed away on the same day that my dad passed away. So I don't know what kind of a coincidence or a coincidence or a connection here. I do not understand it, but I definitely feel that there was some connection because I think he took the place of my father through the years, and he left on the day my dad left.
(00:05:40):
Yeah. I've never grieved for after my dad passed away. This is the first time I really grieved so much. I've had many people pass away, but this was the time that somebody so close to me, so close to my heart, left me. Yeah. Musically, he's always been there for me, guiding me, telling me, this is what you should do, this is the way you should approach this. And even a few months ago when we were in Australia, New Zealand, so we had this group called, Triveni, which is in India, Triveni means that it is that place where three rivers meet Triveni, three rivers meet, and in India we have the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the Saraswati meet at a place called Triveni. That place is called Triveni Sangam, the meeting of all these three rivers. So Zakir Bhai had named our band that name. He had given it that name because he was the one, like Saraswati is the one, which is the Invisible river, and the Ganges and the Yamuna, they were brought together along by the Saraswati, getting them together.
(00:07:33):
So myself and Jayanti Kumaresh were the other two artists. So she plays the Sarasweti veena and I play the violin in the Indian way, and he was the connection between both of us. And he was playing, in India we have two styles of classical music, the South Indian classical music and the North Indian. I represent North Indian, and she represented South Indian music, and he was bridging both, and we used to perform together. And he always told us, it is just one music. It isn't - music is music, whatever kind of music it has to touch you. So it has to make an impact. So there is nothing like this. Is this style of music that style? No, it's just music. And so in Australia, when we were touring, so we had certain plans and I that we would do this, we would do that, and suddenly I went blank and I forgot everything, but nobody knew.
(00:08:50):
I forgot because I recovered and I did something else, though. We looked at each other, what the hell is happening here? But we did that. And then after the concert discussing about it, I said, I'm so upset with myself. Why the hell did I forget everything? I was upset with myself. So then he calls me, makes me sit next to him, and then he says, are you watching this cricket match? I said, yeah, what is there in this match? So he said, look at the guy, how he had the ball coming, and he had to take this catch, and he takes the catch and he realizes he's going to overstep into the boundary. If he steps into the boundary, then it's not a catch. So what did he do? He threw the ball up, he overstepped into the boundary, then again stepped back into the playing area, and then caught the ball again. That is called presence of mind and recovery, and that's exactly what you did. There is no need to berate yourself that, how could I forget this? Did anybody know? Nobody knew. So those little things, it stays with me. Yeah. So it was so sweet of him.
Leah Roseman (00:10:24):
And he introduced you to many artists in different traditions?
Kala Ramnath (00:10:28):
Yes, he did. He did. He not only introduced me, he spoke about me everywhere. I think there are a few artists whom I would say he mentored, and I was lucky to be one among them.
Leah Roseman (00:10:53):
So after you lost your father as a child, your grandfather really was your teacher and took over as father?
Kala Ramnath (00:11:02):
No. My grandfather started me very, very early when I was two years old, and my father was around there, but not doing much because my grandfather had taken over bringing me up. And since they stayed with us, my grandmother and my grandfather lived with us. So my father and my mom took a backseat, and it was my grandfather who really brought me up, who would drop me in school, bring me back from school. He would do everything. He would teach me math, he would teach me English, he would make me practice. So my life began and ended with every day with my grandfather. He would even tell me stories to put me to sleep, and then early morning he'd wake me up. So it was my grandfather through and through.
(00:12:04):
My father was there just to indulge me by me, this buy me that to eat. Yeah, that's all. But everything was my grandfather. And of course my father was very much interested in me being a musician, and probably he wanted to live through me because he had certain ideas, which didn't hard to make it in the music business. He couldn't do what he wanted to do, but he did something. He was involved with film music, but he couldn't do what I'm doing today. So he wanted to live through me and have me achieve all that he couldn't achieve. So he was there and he was a very loving father, very nice. I couldn't have asked for better, but he passed away. And my grandfather was also very nice because though he started me so early, he never made me feel that this was a chore.
(00:13:32):
He treated me in a manner. He made me listen to music. He made me realize music is very beautiful. And once I understood how beautiful music is, then there was no questions. If this is so beautiful, this is what I want to do in life. So my grandfather instilled that in me, showed me how beautiful music was. There was never this thing that I have to practice this, I have to do my practice every day. No, you do it. If you want to, do not do it. That's your loss. So that was instilled into me. So I was never told to practice. I would pick up my violin and practice. So I'm very grateful for all that I got from my family. I mean, it was a very, very protected childhood. I was very much protected by my grandfather and my father, and I wouldn't get to go here and there by myself. They'd be worried about me. So somebody would accompany me, take me. So that way I probably didn't have a normal childhood, but I guess I wouldn't be here if I had had a normal childhood.
Leah Roseman (00:15:17):
So you've created this wonderful online resource now, all these videos to teach people, and you're continuing with that project?
Kala Ramnath (00:15:24):
Yes, I am. I wish I had some funding for it, but I'm doing it all on my own now with no funding whatsoever, which is why I'm slow in my progress with that. It's hard for me. I recorded everything three years ago, but I'm still editing it and putting it up. You understand there's so much of videos that need to be edited, but you need money for editing. The recording was done at one go.
Leah Roseman (00:16:04):
Yeah.
Kala Ramnath (00:16:06):
So I'd be very happy if somebody would like to sponsor, but I feel I felt that I wanted to do this because Indian music has never been documented now. So when I perform and when another person performs, we may have learned the same composition differently. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. So there is the art of improvisation is there in India, and it gives you a lot of freedom to do what you want within that structure, but still that structural aspect should be correct. Right? If that is not correct, then how do you plan to work within that structure? So because of that, I decided I needed to make this website and keep it open for everybody to come there and understand music, Indian music. So that was my idea. And so this would help even students, this would help. Even connoisseurs, master musicians, anybody who has any doubt can go there and they'll find all their questions answered. That was the main idea in doing this. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (00:17:51):
Well, it's a wonderful resource. I've certainly listened to some of those.
Kala Ramnath (00:17:54):
Yes.
Leah Roseman (00:17:56):
Now you have a new band that Kala Ramnath Collective that's like a World fusion?
Kala Ramnath (00:18:01):
Yes, Yeah. Yes. So basically a few years ago, I wrote a bunch of compositions based on Indian music and other genres like Flamenco and Celtic music and jazz and everything. So I decided, let me call it the Kala Ramnath Collective, these bunch of compositions, and I can start performing them. So that's how this thing came up. Yes. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (00:18:46):
So I saw some YouTube videos. Have you made a recording yet with any of those musicians?
Kala Ramnath (00:18:52):
Not yet. I think I should.
Leah Roseman (00:18:54):
Yeah.
Kala Ramnath (00:18:55):
So I wrote the compositions and then I thought, let's start performing them to get familiar with them. So now that I'm familiar, I think, yeah, you are right. I should do it. I don't know why it didn't strike me till now. Yeah. Yes, yes.
Leah Roseman (00:19:13):
Well, I've really enjoyed listening to so many of your albums and the traditional and also your fusion albums. And one of the ones I really love is Paperboats, which you did with Bikram Ghosh.
Kala Ramnath (00:19:24):
There's a Tabla player called Bikram Ghosh, and both of us met after many, many years. We started our careers together, and so when we met after many years, let's say 20, 25 years, let's do something together. And that's how Paperboats was born. So we created these compositions.
Leah Roseman (00:19:53):
Were some of the layers done remotely or were people together?
Kala Ramnath (00:19:57):
We did two albums. One was Paperboats and the other one was Rang.
Leah Roseman (00:20:02):
Yeah.
Kala Ramnath (00:20:04):
So Rang was done remotely in 2020, but Paperboats in 2019 was done when we were together.
Leah Roseman (00:20:16):
You're about to listen to A Better Place from Paperboats Kala Ramnath's album with Bikram Ghosh. This is a wonderful project that brings many wonderful musicians together. And I've linked this album in the podcast notes. (Music)
(00:20:28):
So for many years you studied with a very famous vocalist, Pandit Jasraj. Is that how you pronouce?
Kala Ramnath (00:26:35):
Yes. Pandit Jasraj. Yeah, basically, I met Pandit Rasraj when I was 12 years old. I was turning 12, and I played my first concert and he was there. And as a child, since I come from a musical family, a lot of people knew about me, like Pandit Ravi Shankar knew about me. They all knew that I was a promising kid. So when my first concert happened, a lot of musicians came to listen to me, and one among them was Pandit Jasraj. So there was a lot of curiosity about what would this girl do. So I think he liked my playing, and I kept in touch with him. And when I turned, when I finished my college, I asked him would he teach me, because when I was 15, Zakir bhai told me, if you are going to be playing like your aunt, I belong to a musical family. So my aunt is also very famous violinist. So he said, if you're going to be playing like her, why would anybody want to listen to you? They'll listen to the original. So I don't know what you're going to do. How are you going to do it? But I want originality in your music, and the only thing I can offer you is you want to come and stay in my house in Bombay and figure it out, come over.
(00:28:32):
But I had to finish schooling and then my university, everything. So I said I couldn't make it. I couldn't go there right now, but I'll think about it. And then when I finished my university, I called him, I called Pandit Jasraj, because when I was a child, when I was seven years old, there were two artists who influenced me and made me want to do music as a career. That was Pandit Jasraj. Among them was Pandit Jasraj, the other person was Kishori Amonkar. She was a singer and both were singers. So she was a female and he was male. I listened to both of them. I felt if music was so beautiful, this is what I want to do. So when he had come to my concert and I made a connection with him, and then I kept in touch with him, and when I asked him if he would teach me after my university, he said, of course I will teach you. Why will I not teach you?
(00:29:44):
And so once I joined him, I realized what I was doing and what I was learning from him was totally different because I had to change my fingering for all the phrases that he sang. The fingering that I used wasn't going to help me, so I had to change my fingering. And changing my fingering means, first of all, playing, it's like relearning something from scratch and then developing, what do you say, making it feel like second nature and then bringing control, all these things. It would probably take me a long time to achieve. I realized that, but I didn't have much time, so I felt I need to get this done really, really fast. I stayed at his home for about four and a half months, and then at that period, I wouldn't go out anywhere. I would tell him, I'm not coming anywhere, wherever you want, you go, I don't want to play concerts. I don't want to do anything. Just leave me at home. And he would wonder what I was doing. But all that I did was I would probably sleep four or five hours and the rest of the time would go on figuring out how I would play his music.
(00:31:33):
So about four and a half months later, I had a concert in the radio, which was broadcast all over India. So it was a one and a half hour concert of mine. It was called the National Program. So I was featured in that, and it so happened that Pan Raj was home and the whole family was home. And while we were having dinner, I said, tonight my performance is coming. So he immediately said, get the radio out. I need to listen to this. And then I literally surprised him, shocked him by changing my style completely in that four and a half months, and he could not believe what I had done. And he realized that all these days when I told him, I don't want to go anywhere, I don't, I was working on this. And he was so amazed with my dedication and how things, which could have taken probably six to 10 years, I was done in four months. So after that, because I knew if I have to perform, I can't keep another 10 years working on something. I need to do it fast. So that's how I changed my playing style. And then I came to be known as the singing violin.
Leah Roseman (00:33:22):
When you were working through that, were you recording yourself to listen back?
Kala Ramnath (00:33:27):
Yeah, I was recording myself. I was listening to myself. I would literally pick every phrase, the note separately, and then figure out the fingering for it. And there were phrases when you sing, it feels like there is no break between the notes and that to do with the fingers without hearing that break of switch, the switch of fingers is what I worked on. So when I play though, I may be using different fingers, but different notes. You'll never hear the switch of fingers. You'll see the switch, but you won't hear the switch. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (00:34:44):
This is an excerpt from Kala Ramnath’s video of Raag Ahir Bhairav on her YouTube channel TheSingingViolin, that you’ll find linked directly in the show notes of this podcast, and I encourage you to support her website indianclassicalmusic.com which is such a beautiful and important resource. (Music)
(00:34:44):
And you teach your students now with your style?
Kala Ramnath (00:46:21):
Yes, I do. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (00:46:24):
Now, singing was part of your training to learn to sing as well?
Kala Ramnath (00:46:28):
Yes, and that was the reason that is what helped me in achieving this, because when I sang, I realized, oh, this is like a river flowing. And the other thing I did was the bow, the movement of the bow. I could switch directions and you won't hear the switch in my playing. So that is another thing that I did. So for me, if I'm halfway through a phrase, where do I switch directions of the ball? If the bow gets over, that was another thing I worked on, that one should not hear the switch. So these are things it involves and it is happening even today. I have to be very alert to know that if this is the phrase at this portion, I can switch and it won't be heard that I switch the direction of the bow. It would sound like it flows. Yeah. So these are things I worked on in those, and I work even now because it's something which doesn't end keeps going. And there are times I feel, oh, I could have done this better if I had spent a little more time thinking of this. So yeah, all those things keep happening.
Leah Roseman (00:48:12):
Hi, just a quick break from the episode. I wanted to let you know about some other episodes I’ve linked directly to this one, which I think may interest you, with Karnatic violinist Suhadra Vijaykumar, sitar and tabla player Mohamed Assani, bansuri player Milind Date and the sarod player Avi Kishna. It’s a joy to be able to bring these meaningful conversations to you, but this project costs me quite a bit of money and lots of time; please support this series through either my merchandise store or on my Ko-fi page; you’ll find the links in the show notes. For the merch, it features a unique design by artist Steffi Kelly and you can browse clothes, notebooks, mubs and more, everything printed on demand. On my Ko-fi page you can buy me one coffee, or every month. You’ll also find the links to sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get access to exclusive information about upcoming guests. Finally, if you’re finding this episode interesting, please text it to a friend. Thanks.
Kala Ramnath (00:49:05):
Do you want me to talk about the compositions that I played with the,
Leah Roseman (00:49:13):
Yeah, with, Reena Esmail, I don't how to pronounce her name.
Kala Ramnath (00:49:16):
Yeah, Reena. Reena Esmail.
Leah Roseman (00:49:19):
Yeah, I did have that on my list. So, how did you collaborate with her for the concerto?
Kala Ramnath (00:49:25):
Basically during the pandemic, one day, the whole of Bay Area turned orange. That was because of the wildfires happening 400 miles away, but the Bay area was orange. I have the pictures and I thought, we have ragas for rains, ragas for heat, and ragas for so many other things. Won't there be something to, I mean, of course you have the ragas for the rains, which can douse the fires, but there should be. And when I kept thinking, I realized that these are all the elements which are imbalanced. So like the fire element, the water element, the air element, I mean, they're all, and if one gets imbalanced, everything gets imbalanced. And when I compared it to my own body, I realized that we are also made up of the five elements. The earth is made up of the five elements, and if we have a two degree rise in temperature, we have fever. And if there is an imbalance in the water element in our body, then our kidneys, there's a problem with the kidney, air element, flatulence, and you name it, whatever, but a two degree rise in temperature on earth means disaster. So I thought, what if I use the ragas of these different elements and try to show the imbalance and the balance through music so that it makes the audience realize through the music what we are doing to this earth? And it was nothing to preach, but to make them realize that we need to do something. And then I found that there were three or four stanzas in an old, not a book, it was a Sanskrit, it's called Prithvi Sookta, Prithvi means the Earth, and Sookta is an ode to the Earth. So written 10,000 years ago. I don't know who wrote it, how it came about, but that was a prayer to Mother Earth seeking forgiveness for soiling her when she has given us the mountains, the water and the air, clean air, the animals and the plants, everything. And so I realized people knew about this 10,000 years ago, and they have written seeking forgiveness and writing this in praise of her for what she's given us and showing what you say, gratitude. And so I thought I wanted to include those also in this. And that's how I composed all those compositions. Now, I may have composed them, but to get them for the orchestra, that wasn't my cup of tea. I did not know how to arrange it for the orchestra. That's when Reena and I had worked for the Kronos.
(00:53:32):
So the Kronos asked me to compose something for the 50 For the Future, for all quartets. And Reena had helped arrange, arrange the whole thing. So I called Reena up and I said, Hey, I have this here with me, and do you want to take a look and tell me, hear it, and tell me what we can do with this? And then she heard it, and then she said, Hey, I think we can work on this, but maybe in 25/26. So I said, okay. Then suddenly she says, no, let's do it now. So that had to happen. That was the Almighty's wish, I think, because within six months we completed the whole concerto and we premiered it with the Seattle Symphony.
Leah Roseman (00:54:25):
Yeah, it's a beautiful collaboration. It was a joy to play that with you.
Kala Ramnath (00:54:28):
Yeah. Yeah. That's how that happened. Yeah. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (00:54:32):
When you're practicing for yourself, are you strict about the time of day in terms of which ragas as you play?
Kala Ramnath (00:54:38):
No. No. You know that aspect of Indian music where you had to play according to the times of the day, that doesn't make sense today because earlier music was played in the open. It was not held in concert venues, it was out amidst, nature, Indian music. We have a lot of microtones. So these microtones had a connection with the physiology of the individual and nature. And that created, I would say it affected the mind of the individual, and whatever was the mood that was to have been brought out through the notes of a particular raga, that mood would happen, that was conveyed through the notes, and it affected the mind. The literal meaning of raga is something that colors your mind. So these notes, these microtones in affected the physiology of the individual, and it affected the mind. But today, with concerts happening in concert venues where it's always dark, it makes no sense following that. But as a musician, if I'm playing a purely classical concert, then I follow it.
Leah Roseman (00:56:43):
Yeah.
Kala Ramnath (00:56:44):
Yes.
Leah Roseman (00:56:46):
And you did put out a couple of EPs in the last couple of years, and one of them is there. It's an early evening song, the Raga, I can't pronounce it, Chayanat?
Kala Ramnath (00:56:55):
Yeah. That I recorded in 1999,
Leah Roseman (00:57:01):
And it just came out. Okay.
Kala Ramnath (00:57:02):
No, it came out then they've been repackaging and again and again packaging it differently. Yeah,
Leah Roseman (00:57:12):
Okay. I was wondering if it was a pandemic thing, but no,
Kala Ramnath (00:57:15):
No, it's been many years and I haven't recorded anything. Actually, after 2020, I haven't done anything
Leah Roseman (00:57:27):
Except with Bikram, the projects we were talking about?
Kala Ramnath (00:57:29):
Yeah, that was done in 2020. So after that, I haven't done anything. I haven't recorded anything. Maybe I should, this year I'll do something.
Leah Roseman (00:57:43):
So when you came to the us, you had these opportunities to collaborate across genres. So I understand you met Ray Manzarek of the Doors in 1996.
Kala Ramnath (00:57:53):
Yes. I met him through a student of mine, Michael Robinson, and I met Ray, and Ray heard me, and he said, we should do a concert together. And then we played a concert called the Indian Seasons, and that was my first, I would say, collaboration, collaborative effort with someone. And after that, I kind of started getting many opportunities, many avenues opened up, and I started working with a lot more people. I played with jazz music, I played with Flamenco, Celtic music, and then with orchestras, then films, and yeah, gamelan, music, Chinese, Japanese,
Leah Roseman (00:59:05):
And coming from this very strict upbringing with music, how did it feel when you started to do these crossover things? And
Kala Ramnath (00:59:15):
I just realized something that we are all doing the same thing, but our approach is just different. There are so many commonalities I find with what I do and probably what is being done in Western classical music. For example, one aspect which I can think of is the scales. Like your melodic miner is called Kirwani for me, it is the same thing. And when you switch using chords, when you switch scales, I find so many Indian ragas in every switch. There was this concert, which I played with the orchestra in Rome, and there they were playing the music and they were switching chords, and I was immediately changing ragas to match the chords. So I realized that it's just the approach that is different, like the Blues scale that is called Jog in Indian Music. So, so many places. I found, for example, the scale that's commonly used in Flamenco, that was Basant Mukhari. That is Basant Mukhari for me. So it is, and it's very easy. And in flamenco, they have this 12 beat cycle, and the 12th beat is their one. It's very easy for me to figure out all those things because of my training in Indian music. And I found that whatever anybody plays, I'm able to relate to that music and it becomes easier for me to then improvise and collaborate with musicians. And of course, more than the music. I feel our personalities should match before the music starts. If the musician isn't very friendly, then I don't think I can collaborate, and they shouldn't be any ego on stage. These are very important things, and music should be the main thing. Yeah. So I find that it's just our approach, which is different. Otherwise, musically we are just the same.
Leah Roseman (01:02:31):
I'd like to ask you about the way you tune your violin. Do you always tune it with these low tuning?
Kala Ramnath (01:02:36):
Oh, no. Actually, violin is tuned a little higher in India too. But the reason why I have tuned it like this is because in India we have long concerts and it's about three hours, two to three hours. And if the violin is high-pitched in Western classical, you have the violin, the violas, and then the cellos and the bass showing the different colors. But here with just the violin, I have to show everything. And if it is extremely high pitched, to sit with just the violin playing as a solo instrument to listen for two to three hours is difficult. So what I did, I started, what do you say? Experimenting with banjo strings and this and that. And then I realized why not? I use viola strings on the violin. So I started using viola strings on the violin, and the way I tune it is a little different. You mean we don't have the stringing, right? So a D, and then on the G-string, I move it up to A. And the C string, I move it up to D. So it's A D A D. That's how I tune my violin.
Leah Roseman (01:04:14):
That's a beautiful color. And it strike me when I was hearing you live, and since I've listened to many of your recordings.
Kala Ramnath (01:04:20):
Yeah.
Leah Roseman (01:04:21):
Now another project you did, which is interesting to me, is the Elements trio with George Brooks, and I believe he was also introduced to you by Zakir Hussein?
Kala Ramnath (01:04:30):
Yes. Yes. Elements is something where we try to bring jazz, Indian classical music. And what is that? And Western Classical. So Gwyneth Wentink, who plays the harp, she represented Western classical and I, of course, Indian and George, the jazz aspect. So we brought all the three together and we made compositions together for the whole album that we did. I think we did two albums,
Leah Roseman (01:05:07):
And George is more familiar with Indian music. Did that help?
Kala Ramnath (01:05:11):
Yes. Because he has learned Indian music, so that was helpful. Yeah, quite helpful, yeah.
Leah Roseman (01:05:18):
It would be interesting for these podcast listeners to hear some of that work. Would it be okay if I included a clip of that? Do you want to ask?
Kala Ramnath (01:05:25):
Sure, sure. No problems.
Leah Roseman (01:05:28):
You're about to hear Better Than Coffee from the album Elements with George Brooks, Kala Ramnath and Gwyneth Wentink, this album is linked in the podcast show notes. (Music)
(01:05:40):
and you played with Bela Fleck, the banjo player?
Kala Ramnath (01:10:17):
I have once in India. When he was here, Zakir-ji had me play with him and Edgar Meyer.
Leah Roseman (01:10:26):
Okay.
Kala Ramnath (01:10:27):
Then of course I met him now at Zakir bhai's celebration of his life, and we were talking. Yeah. So maybe if the universe brings both of us together, we will play soon. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (01:10:50):
Yeah, that'd be great. So when we started this talking about how you're producing these beautiful videos to show, to document the tradition when you work with students, because you play with such ease, I was just curious how you work on that with students to play with minimal attention and also find their voice.
Kala Ramnath (01:11:08):
See, for that, I feel it's all to do with practice, which in turn brings in the confidence. So the more and more you practice, the more and more you start getting confident. And in my case, I've put in a lot of practice, which is why there is this ease in playing. You understand? And you have to keep on at it. Even nowadays, I don't practice much because I have too many things on my plate, which I have to take care of. I wish I could go back to the times when I didn't have to worry about anything else except practice. But it is those years of practice in childhood, which gives me, I mean, I would say for a period of 20 to 30 years, somewhere in between, I would've practiced average. I would've averaged six hours a day. So that's a lot without consistent practice, with no breaks, except if I felt sick. So because of that being inculcated in me by my grandfather in childhood, so it was something like I did daily. It wasn't a big thing. Oh, I have to sit and practice. That had to be done.
Leah Roseman (01:12:52):
I was curious why your first concert, you were at 12 when you had been studying so seriously for so long?
Kala Ramnath (01:13:01):
My first concert at 12, I think. I mean, for 10 years of practice in the first concert, I think that's good. Right,
Leah Roseman (01:13:10):
Okay. It seems to put so much pressure on the one performance as opposed to building up.
Kala Ramnath (01:13:16):
No, I think 10 years of practice, of regular practice I think was enough for me, for my first concert, and I wasn't in any stress.
Leah Roseman (01:13:30):
Okay.
Kala Ramnath (01:13:31):
I really wasn't in any stress because I think that's because of all the practice. As I said, it gave me the confidence, and after that, it's always been like that. Yeah. That ease in playing comes from practice.
Leah Roseman (01:13:54):
So you had founded a school, Kalashree. Is that still happening?
Kala Ramnath (01:13:58):
It is. It still is there in the Bay Area, California, and I have that as a foundation where I use music as therapy, cancer, children with cancer. And in India I use it. I have the same Kalashree foundation here too, where I work with children from families which are economically downtrodden. So yeah, I use music to help children do, well, develop their personality and not get into drugs and mafia. And if they do well, then I give them a scholarship and help them establish their careers.
Leah Roseman (01:14:57):
So in India, is it an actual school or is it just sort of a mentorship?
Kala Ramnath (01:15:02):
Mentorship.
Leah Roseman (01:15:03):
Okay.
Kala Ramnath (01:15:05):
Actual school, I used to do it before the pandemic, but so I had teachers and children who would come every day and learn and all that. But after the pandemic, during the pandemic, all that stopped, and I haven't revived it back.
Leah Roseman (01:15:28):
During the height of the pandemic, were you in India or were you in the United States?
Kala Ramnath (01:15:32):
So when the pandemic started, I was in India because I was just leaving for San Francisco to start my tour with Zakir-Ji. And then the pandemic happened slowly, one by one concerts started, they started canceling, and after that, what I did was I was here alone for three months. I am here now, June, I think June 10th, I left India and went back home to the us, and after that I was there till the pandemic ended. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (01:16:16):
Well, we started this conversation with your memory of your guru's, and we were just talking about how you were playing with him right before you had to stop playing. When you were able to start playing again, were you able to play with him or,
Kala Ramnath (01:16:31):
I started again, the tour, which didn't happen when the pandemic started, the pandemic ended. I began my career again with the same tour.
Leah Roseman (01:16:42):
Okay, wonderful.
Kala Ramnath (01:16:44):
Yeah, so we started on the same tour and yeah, lovely memories, but somebody who passed away too soon. That's what I'll say.
Leah Roseman (01:16:57):
Yeah.
Kala Ramnath (01:16:57):
Yeah.
Leah Roseman (01:16:59):
Well, thank you so much for this. Really appreciate it.
Kala Ramnath (01:17:01):
Yeah, you're welcome. And thank you for having me. Yeah.
Leah Roseman (01:17:09):
I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please share this with your friends and check out episodes you may have missed Leahroseman.com. If you could buy me a coffee to support the series, that would be wonderful. I'm an independent podcaster and I really do need the help of my listeners. All the links are in the show notes. The podcast theme music was written by Nick Kold. Have a wonderful week.
