PRESSE, THE HINDU

It's Franco-Indian beat tonight

PARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS ? Not that it really matters. Because this, strictly speaking, is not going to be French. Its Franco-Indian techno. A strange combo (as in Pizzeria lingo), you might say. But the three Musketeers involved are serious about their mission. Pierre Moitram, Richard Bernet and Kapi will reveal the depth of their passion at the Alliance Francaise this Saturday. Their performance as the group "Nataraj - XT" is part of their Indian tour covering cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh and Goa. Pierre on the "sitar", Richard the "sarod" player, and Kapi the techno-musician, have always held Indian music in special esteem. Why, even their CDs even have narres such as "Tandava", "Sweet Nature" and "Indian"! All the three musicians have had Bues steeped in music. Richard for instance, studied "sarod" at the Ali Akbar Khan Music College, California. Pierre learnt the "sitar" under a disciple of Ravi Shankar, while Kapi is mostly self-taught. His focus is not on a single musical trend but on rock, pop, jazz, blues, reggae, etc.; if its got rhythm, its music to his ears! Techno music erupted in Europe in the '80s. Today, its main centres are London, Paris, Amsterdam and Envers. And "Nataraj - XT" was born at Marseille and is now said to be very "happening" in the techno scene there. They actually began their group careers in 1997 when "Nataraj - XT" was part of the noted techno group "Massilia Sound System", also based in Marseille.

Now, these musicians prefer to make music on their own and have toured extensively. Apparently, they got rave reviews when they performed at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai last year.

By Divya Sreedharan, The Hindu, saturday, march 17, 2001