Notes of unity

Whoever said that music transcends boundaries was definitely on the right track. The Austrian band 'World Beat Experience' has been uniting people through its music for the last ten years. Taalis, Wolfgang Sambs and Helmut Schoenleitner have been performing in Europe, India and Thailand an assimilation of different genres of music. Calling it world music that will appeal to the people irrespective of their language or culture, the band presents a splendid blend of melodies. Elaborating on their music Schoenleitner says, "We want to arouse the universal conscience by music. Every time we perform we attempt to spread our knowledge and wisdom trying to bring people closer."

The band has been visiting India since the last six years. Having performed in various places across Maharashtra including Nagpur and Nashik the members are quite familiar with both Marathi and Hindi. Talking about the audience Sambs says, "People here are very alert about the latest trends. They appreciate and sway to our music and it feels great. Also things are quite liberal here, unlike Europe where you aren't allowed to move or mingle until the concert is over."

Quite interestingly the band members have been learning Indian classical music from none other than Pandit Suresh Talwalkar for the last eight years. "We were in Pune for Guru Purnima this time and we celebrated it in the traditional way offering prayers to our guru, Pandit Talwalkar. He has been a great motivator. We have learnt laaytaal from him during his lessons in Austria," adds Taalis.

While Schoenleitner is the director of Jazz Institute in Austria, Sambs and Taalis have been his students before they became partners. Talking about their talent Schoenleitner says, "This is the new generation, full of creativity and passion for the art. They are the best Austria can offer at the moment."

The band performed at Shisha Cafe on Thursday and the audience swirled mesmerized to jazz beats. With Taalis on drums, Sambs on Guitar and Schoenleitner on Bass guitar, the evening saw an exchange of music and acclaim. "We come to India once in a year and most of the times to Pune. The city is nice and the response here is very exciting. We generally present a mix of Indian and African flavour of funk and jazz. It is this blend of eastern and western music through which we attempt to unite people from all over the world," sums up Taalis.