'Bollywood culture has shrunk the listener base of rock and jazz'
'Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high'. Tagore's poem envisioned an ideal world that has not been broken up into fragments by narrow walls. The philosophy behind this oft-quoted poem is a cue for Amyt Datta. The virtuoso guitarist staunchly believes that we must embrace the culture of the West and should not treat it as an alien.
One of the pioneers of the Indie rock band movement in Kolkata in the early 90s and early 2000s, Amyt Datta's electrifying magic on the six strings used to woo rock music lovers. Cut to 2022, the city of joy still grooves to rock and jazz music post-pandemic and Amyt Datta still rules the roost. The virtuoso guitarist still mesmerises his admirers with live gigs.
A guitarist, composer, teacher and mentor, Amyt Datta dons many hats with 'elaan'. He toured extensively with the rock band 'Shiva' from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. He later played with 'Pinknoise', the late-night alter ego of pop/rock band 'Skinny Alley' in the early 2000s and has continued his own solo work, often in collaboration with Jivraj Singh.
The enigmatic guitarist is playing at social clubs and other venues in Kolkata post-pandemic. It was his 'Electric Power Quartet' that drew listeners in hordes. He candidly shared his view in a freewheeling tete-a-tete with 'Millennium Post'.
Datta admits that Calcutta always had a niche market for rock and jazz, but it is the prevalent Hindi culture that diverted the audience. Sharing his view, the guitarist opined, "The music that I play is difficult on the ear of the normal audience. But those who are in this field feel it is intriguing. Discerning the audience, my genre of music has a different mental makeup. But it is not the fault of the audience. The Hindi songs of Bollywood have shrunk the listener base of rock and jazz music."
Though he is doing more jam-steady performances and gigs of late post-Covid, he feels one or two shows cannot revive rock and jazz music. It is more important to organise a month-long concert by the rock band.
"It has to be a culture across generations. In New York, the gig is a regular phenomenon. At least we can have a few shows on a regular basis here. However, it is difficult to have a liquor license here and that makes the comeback of the rock and jazz genres a little unviable. Some people need to keep alive real music and gigs."
As a music composer, the dissonance is a major feature of his music. He belted out albums like 'Amino Acid', 'Pietra Dura', 'Ambiance De Danse' and 'Red Plant'. The approach for 'Amino Acid' was electric and he considered noise also as part of the music. Likewise, 'Red Plant' is dissonant harmonically, not noise-wise, as this one is more within the territory of music convention.
The guitar maestro has been composing an album of late. This would be the latest album after 'Red Plant' which was released in December last year. He is planning to record by the winter of this year. Expecting the album to come within a couple of months, he pined for some patronisation from corporates as part of their CSR fund. But despair about not getting the support could be perceived in his voice clearly.
"We are like soldiers. I have started the battle 50 years again and I will breathe my last like this. I hope music companies will come forward to support rock and jazz," retorted the guitarist.
The virtuoso guitarist attributed this lack of support to the mindset of people in India. He strongly objected to the cultural protectionism Bengalis have. According to the composer, Bengalis love to take pride in their culture, language and identity and it is non-negotiable. They love to worship Rabindranath Tagore or Satyajit Ray.
Being a Bengali too, he finds it hard to stomach such cultural arrogance. Arguments like 'western music is not our culture' and 'oposanskriti' completely ruined the music scene, vehemently felt the guitarist.
"We need to encourage cross-cultural movements. We imbibe so much from the West, but we don't accept their culture," repented the celebrated guitarist. He truly opined that we are all inhabitants of one world.
"I myself was inspired by a myriad of influences across styles and regions while I composed my solo album 'Red Plant'. I remember I played with Rehman and Amitabh Bachchan in 2016 in Mumbai."
A close friend of music composers Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, Amyt Datta feels their talent is wasted as they have to customise the songs to suit the image of popular stars.
A strict disciplinarian, Amyt Datta still practises for hours on the fretboard before the gig. The challenges of those six strings still inflict him and offer joys and heartbreaks, which keeps him going.
"I respect my guitar. I have been playing for the last 50 years. But I still feel that I have done nothing. The more you learn, the more you crave for. That is the romance of life," signed off the enigmatic illusionist.
