TURA: Renowned saxophonist and composer George Brooks performed at the district auditorium here on Saturday afternoon.
San Francisco-based Brooks — who is known for bridging the two worlds of jazz and Indian classical music and is the founder of Indian fusion groups Summit, Raga Bop Trio, Elements and Bombay Jazz — and his wife Emily Klion, who is an art educator in music and theatre in the US, reached Tura on Monday and are in Meghalaya on an assignment.
The couple is here to explore the musical diversity in the northeastern state and teach young enthusiasts the basics of how to make music.
The programme is organised by the Centre of Excellence in Indian and Western Music in collaboration with the Department of Art and Culture.
Brooks’ deep association with Indian music started with his training under Pandit Pran Nath, the doyen of north Indian music. The journey became everlasting and the saxophonist has worked with Indian greats like Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Sultan Khan, Aashish Khan, Shankar Mahadevan and L. Subramaniam.
In Tura, Brooks and Emily are teaching a group youngsters theory of western music and traditions of vocal music. The duo is on a three-week trip to the State and will visit Shillong after the assignment in Tura.
