[Continued from Pt. 1]

Long story longer, I was tickled when my friends Gigi & Tariq Shaukat invited me to see Rahman perform at the Axis Theatre at Planet Hollywood (also known as the Las Vegas home of Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, and Janet Jackson).  While I couldn’t name a single song he’d written, a quick Googling followed by a few minutes on YouTube, established that I was familiar with his music.  And what gorgeous music it is!  Sure, when someone says “Indian music” my first thought goes to Bugs Bunny sitting cross-legged in a bazaar, wearing a turban, and playing the recorder, as a cobra rises from a woven basket (and as I write this, I understand why people hate Americans).  But Rahman isn’t just composing sitar solos (he earned his degree in Western Classical Music from Trinity College, Oxford), but utilizes an impressively vast array of styles, including Western symphonic, Arabic hip-hop, Tamil folk, Carnatic and Hindistani, and Qawwali (familiar to all of you fans of the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan).

Needless to say, his concert was mind-blowing.  I’m pretty sure he (and the other musicians, of which there were many, including some kick-ass singers, a rocking violinist, a fantastic bassist, and a great drummer) performed in at least three languages.  There was even a “Jazz” segment of the concert, where one of the women (dressed in a traditional sari) channeled her inner Ella Fitzgerald, and dished-out some funky scat riffs, by the piano!

Not only was the music amazing, but throughout the concert, there was this woman, who just danced and spun and twirled and whirled – like a Sufi Stevie Nicks – in a variety of dresses, skirts, and bejeweled shawls, in addition to one incredible feathered fan.

After the concert, I was lucky enough to be introduced to the man, himself; and when I gushed that I was totally bowled over, even though I didn’t understand a single word he sang, he chuckled.  When I continued, by saying that I needed to find a way to incorporate that dancing woman into my life, the chuckle grew into a laugh, and Rahman said to me, “I’ll be sure to let her know.  It’s gonna make her day!”

A.R. Rahman | The Intimate Concert – 2015 North American Tour
Axis Theatre at Planet Hollywood | June 7th, 2015
Click HERE for info

Get into it!

In an era that might as well be summed up with the hashtag #OscarsSoBoring, there were actually some folks on the red carpet who were styled to the gods and dressed in a manner we ascribe to movie stars!