Shye Ben Tzur is from Israel but he’s a proponent of Hindustani classical music. As a teenager, Tzur was introduced to Western classical music by his uncle and he spent years playing the guitar. But at 19, he attended a concert by flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain which changed his life. “I was so fascinated by the music that I decided I must visit India,” he recollects. “Never did I know that I would learn and play Indian music full-time.”
This weekend, Tzur will be performing as part of the Sama’a: The Mystic Ecstasy - Festival of Sufi Music. He will share the stage with renowned musicians such as Munawar Masoom and Kailash Kher. The concluding day will also have a documentary screening by writer-historian William Dalrymple.
Trained in Hindustani classical music and qawwali, Tzur writes songs in Hebrew. A major achievement has been his collaboration with rock band Radiohead's guitarist Jonny Greenwood. In 2015, they released the album Junun together and have regularly toured abroad with the Rajasthan Express, a group of Indian folk musicians. “I was in Kolkata for a concert when a friend said Jonny liked my music and was keen on meeting,” he says talking about his collaboration with Greenwood. “We eventually met in London and felt we should work together.” For Junun , Greenwood wanted to use a lot of Rajasthani music. “That's how the group Rajasthan Express was formed. Jonny not only played guitar and bass, but also produced the project.”
When Tzur first visited India he was looking for a music teacher. “Luckily, someone guided me to dhrupad maestro Zia Fariduddin Dagar in Bhopal,” he remembers. During his trip, a visit to Ajmer, Rajasthan got Tzur to the dargah and he was exposed to qawwali. “I had earlier heard Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and loved his music,” he says. “But the Ajmer visit made me decide to focus on this style, and I started using raags and qawwalis and singing them in the Hebrew, besides Hindi and Urdu.” In Rajasthan, Tzur also picked up the local folk music and interacted with musicians from the region. The albums Heeyam and Shoshan were thus a blend of his different influences. “They are the soundtracks of my life,” he says.
Over the years, Tzur has developed a deep attachment with Indian music. As his wife is from Ajmer, he learnt Hindi and Urdu. “Indian music has so many different traditions,” says the musician. “Besides Fariduddin Dagar and Chaurasia, I would listen to vocalists Amir Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Kishori Amonkar, violinist N. Rajam and sitar player Nikhil Banerjee. Or Pakistani qawwali masters like Nusrat and the Sabri Brothers," he says. Tzur is now looking forward to Sunday's concert, where he will play with The Rajasthan Express.
Sama’a: The Mystic Ecstasy -A Festival of Sufi Music will take place from November 10 to 12 at the NCPA. See bookmyshow for more details.
