Mary McCaslin's Roundup

Dec 27, 2001

THE BATISH FAMILY

First Night Santa Cruz hosts performances by a variety of the best musicians in our local area, some of whom also happen to be revered worldwide. This New Years Eve sitar master Ashwin Batish will be doing a rare local performance at the Riverfront Theatre. Actually, he will be doing three performances at 6:45, 7:30 and 8:15.

As if this is not special enough, Ashwin will be joined on stage by his father, Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish. The senior Batish has played and composed music since the 1930s, becoming a household name in his native India though his performances on All India Radio and on Indian movie soundtracks. He moved the family to London in the 1960s, where his musical career and reputation continued to flourish. He played regularly on BBC radio.

He made the aquaintance of George Harrison, who had become interested in Indian music and meditation, along with his then wife, Patti Boyd Harrison. Pandit Batish can be heard on the soundtrack of the movie Help playing the Vichitra veena, an instrument similar to the sitar. He also taught Patti Harrison to play another Indian instrument called the Dilruba. The Harrisons would send a car to bring Pandit to their home for Patti's music lessons. George Harrison was usually also in attendance. He would occasionally ask questions, but did not officially study with Pandit. George learned to play the sitar from Ravi Shankar.

In 1973 the Batish family moved to Santa Cruz and opened the Batish India House restaurant, which ran for fifteen years. Ashwin's mother did the cooking and Ashwin and Pandit played music for the customers. Pandit had been invited to teach two sessions on Indian music at UCSC's Merrill College on the recommendation of Dr. Ralph Abraham, professor of mathematics. Ashwin continued to develop his playing, teaching Indian music at San Jose State University and eventually in the recording studio he opened in their building on Mission street.

After closing the restaurant the Batishes began to concentrate on producing recordings of their music. They now also have a tape and CD duplicating service for runs of 500 or less pieces. Two of Ashwin's recordings, Sitar Power and Sitar Power II, feature him on sitar and a mixture of western instruments (including a drum machine) that create a wonderous concoction of boundary-stretching music. Some of his tracks seem to beg for "clawhammer" banjo accompaniment and most have a pulsing techno-pop rhythm. Ashwin is definitely not a purist when it comes to playing his music, though he also has classical sitar recordings.

He inherited his musical outlook from his father. Early on in his musical career Pandit began mixing traditional Indian instruments with western orchestral instruments in his compositions and arrangements. Sometimes this approach was greeted with skepticism and he would be asked to remove certain western instruments from the score. Pandit wanted to add a bass to the music and more than once was asked to remove it and put in tablas. The mixture of ethnic instruments with orchestral instruments is now commonplace and we have pioneers like Pandit to thank for this wonderful innovation.

Like his father before him, Ashwin has made a place for himself in the music world. Both men are mavericks and each exudes a true love and fascination for all music. Pandit, who by the way will be 86 very soon, wants to share his music with Americans. As he says, "My battery is still charged."

Currently, the Batishes are working on a six CD project, which is a collection of Carnatic Melakarta ragas. The first CD is out with more on the way. Pandit has composed almost all of the pieces, as well as singing and playing various Indian and synthecized instruments on each track. Ashwin also plays a selection of instruments on these recordings. This is very intense and beautiful music and would be a crowning achievement to any musical career. But, one gets the impression that Pandit has lots more to bring to us and this is just one of many projects along the way.

Ashwin and his family have made excellent use of the internet. Their web site (www.batish.com) is informative and vastly interesting, with features and information about every aspect of this exceptional family's music. Desks with computers fill the room that once was the Batish India House restaurant. This is a true family enterprise. Ashwin's mother is very actively involved in daily business affairs. His sister Sandra handles promotions, his brother Ravi manages the recording division and another sister, Meena, is a singer with recordings on the Batish label.

The Batish family is another example of the creative contributions made worldwide by Santa Cruz residents. So beloved is Pandit that loyal fans around the world have set up web pages in honor of his many musical accomplishments, providing the Batish family web site with some wonderful links.

Stop in to hear them at First Night Santa Cruz. You'll be glad you did.

Mary McCaslin

roundup@marymccaslin.com