The ground-breaking tune of that name by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, released in 1966, was a blending of the Indian raga form with rock, jazz and blues inspired by John Coltrane’s “modal” jazz, also based on Indian music. The Sunday afternoon concert of the Ojai Music Festival was also an East/West affair, as Festival Director Vijay Iyer came together with saxaphonist and fellow Indian-American jazzman Rudresh Mahanthappa, Zakir Hussein, master of the tabla, and South Indian vocalist extraordinaire Aruna Sairam. The concert was aptly titled “Confluence” and the result of this joining of musical talents and traditions was a very high point of the festival. The seamless blending of North Indian classical, South Indian Carnatic vocal and American jazz musics, with plenty of improvisation and superb musicianship, was by turns exhilarating and achingly beautiful. There was plenty of toe tapping, a little “seat dancing” and even some humor.
