John Fishell & Deepak Ram

Written by Ruchir Dey

Notorious Partners in Crime, a fusion music journey in Soho London was a delightful evening for a group of 25 carefully selected individuals. When the lights dimmed as the party was a few drinks in, we were greeted to the echoey voice of John Fishell singing The Beatles’s “Within You Without You” as Deepak Ram matched the legendary tune with his flute. It was clear that this was going to be an intransient evening.

Ram introduced us to what he calls “the sixth generation” of his composition “Space Time”. All in the room were transfixed as he breathed life into that flute, creating an atmosphere which transported one to a completely different realm of reality. In this piece the influences and no doubt lessons of discipline from his master, the great flautist Maestro Pundit Hariprasad Chaurasia. 

Fishell soon segwayed into the duo’s latest single “Valentine”. He introduced this as a  song for “all men who’ve forgotten valentines day”, leading to a chuckle around the room and various people nodding their heads recalling the sentiment! Finally, both of them broke into a rendition of “Kashmir”, the iconic song by Led Zeppelin. This experience highlighted the hard-work and detailing they’ve both done to adapt this rock ballad of the ages and their adaptation held its own to the original.    

Their musical chemistry shone through in the performance and audience interactions, a testimony to their friendship of 32 years. Their banter reflected the authenticity of both musicians and their obvious comfort with each other, setting the tone in the room for honest discussions. They recognise each other’s strengths and are happy to reveal their own musical deficiencies, which they overcome together to create their music. Ram, a soft spoken renowned flautist while Fishell being a chatty vocalist, showed how they successfully utilised their contrasting personalities and different skills to create beautiful fusion music together, reflecting both their musical heritage and cultures. 

Avid fusion music enthusiasts would recall Indian classical music being merged with western music by George Harrison and The Beatles, incorporating this in some of their albums, like Revolver and Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Music aficionados would remember the stellar collaboration between Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin. And more contemporarily speaking, John Mclaughlin and Shakti are the gold standard for this type of fusion music. With John Fishell and Deepak Ram we witness something similar to how perfectly John Mclaughlin's classical guitaring accompanied Shakti's Indian classical sound. 

Notorious Partners in Crime is a great title that encapsulates all that this duo stand for and what they bring to their listeners, as John Fishell laughingly suggested they were a combination of a “greasy cheese burger” and a glass of “red wine”. While I may pass up this combination in a meal, the duo of Ram & Fishell is not to be missed, their music certainly uplifting your listening. I personally wish them all the best and hope to see a lot more from their collaboration.