The West Australian, Stephen Bevis
4 September 2006
Not many Musicians can claim to have invented a new genre.
Arthur Gracias has not only done that, he has created his own instrument to play it on.
The guitarist, keyboardist and composer has built an international reputation as the originator of Indo-jazz – a fusion of contemporary Indian raga and jazz.
Born in India but now living in Perth, Gracias has scored music for award-winning Indian films Yatria, Gudia, Beyond the Himalayas, Patang and Dekha, and has performed with Herbie Hancock, Gunther Klatt and Steve lacy.
In concert, his fingers fluently negotiate a twin-necked 18-string instrument based on a 1940’s Harmony Archtop guitar with an added 12-string Indian-style fingerboard turned to give a sitar-sounding shimmer.
The old Harmony guitar belonged to his uncle and Gracias learnt to play on it from the age of four.
“It is of immense sentimental value to me,” he says. His Indo-jazz Archtop will be the centre piece of his performance to launch his CD, Night Raga, with his three-piece band called, fittingly enough, Indojazz, for the Perth Jazz Society tonight.
Gracias, who moved to Perth four years ago but tours regularly in India and Europe, formed Indojazz with Manoli Vouyoucalos on bass and Mohan Sathyanath on traditional Indian instruments mridangam, ghatam and ganjira in 2003.
They will also perform music from the gypsy musical migration from North India to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Spain and North Africa.