There has long been a connection between jazz and Indian music. This cross-cultural pollination has lead to recordings, such as Boogie for Hanuman. John McLaughlin, for example, came to prominence as a guitarist with Miles Davis's ensemble, then led an early, and successful, jazz-rock fusion outfit called the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was at the time a devotee of the Indian mystic Sri Chinmoy, which furthered his interest in things Indian. Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Al DiMeola and Lenny White formed "Return to Forever", which was another highly acclaimed Hindustani-influenced jazz fusion effort.

Northern Indian music, which sustains notes, while southern Indian does not, seems to be more suited to melding with Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, North American jazz and other influences. Karnatic or southern Indian music is more a part of everyday life in India, while Hindustani or northern Indian music is of the court and of the intelligentsia, perhaps making it more open to variations and experimentation. Another reason that Hindustani music may adapt to and blend with other influences is that Persian influences were grafted onto the rootstock of Hindustani music during the Mughal empire (1526-1857) when Islamic law was not tolerant of praising other than Allah, so the creative energy of the music had to be malleable.

Phil Scarff became interested in playing Hindustani classical music through his work with vocalist, bassist, and composer Senders, playing in Antigravity beginning in 1980. Scarff says, "At that point, Warren [Senders] had been studying Hindustani Sangeet for several years, and he incorporated Indian influences in his compositions, as well as in his instructions for improvisation. As a jazz musician, I was interested in new techniques and ideas for improvising, and the Indian concepts were very intriguing to me. After several years of listening to recordings and attending concerts, I began my formal study of Indian classical music in 1985, first in Boston, and then traveling to Pune, India." Since then, Scarff has made eight more trips to India to continue his music studies. He has performed Indian classical music, both in the context of his Indo-Afro-jazz ensemble Natraj, and in smaller, more "traditional" Indian classical settings.

He says, " Having been involved with Indo-jazz fusion for 17 years now, I can respond to how jazz and Indian classical music blend: Both musics are deep and expressive, and are based on improvisation. Both employ improvisation that can derive from an underlying composition. Concepts from both idioms can increase the musical vocabulary of the musician and composer, and can be used as resources for improvisation and composition."

The late Don Cherry, the trumpet player who performed with saxophonist Ornette Coleman's "harmolodic" bands, explained that the symbiosis between Hindustani music and jazz comes from the fact that to a greater extent than having notes, Indian music has tones - 36 of them to an octave, so that there is a greater potential for playing "between the notes" and creating what is called free jazz.

However, unlike American jazz, or other western music, Indian music is built around the rag or melody, which the individual artist clothes and makes new with improvisation and variation each time the melody is performed. On the liner notes of his album, Ravi Shankar Plays Three Classical Ragas in 1956, the artist explained the very minor role of harmony, saying, "Indian music is modal by nature, and though harmony may be present in its simplest form, it is inherent, rather than deliberate. For the better and finer enjoyment of Indian music, Western audiences should forget about harmony and counterpoint or the mixed tone colors which may be considered the prime essentials of a symphonic or similar work, and relax rather in the rich melody and rhythm, and with the exquisitely subtle inflections through which the atmosphere of a Raga is built up."

The influence of Indian music in the west has opened as many doors as it has closed. The new sounds, the sophisticated rhythmic structures and the expansive melodic development all point to new areas for the western musical improviser. However, the 'apparent' static nature of Indian music has often 'given permission' to westerners to do 'nothing' as players, and do it badly at that. 

"Within the particular atmosphere of a raga, we have a lot to learn. A player can deliver all the elements of a particular raga and get the feel entirely wrong. This has become my latest work as a player/composer: how do define, and deliver, the extremely particular feel of particular piece (even when the musical material is virtually identical to another piece.) The Indian musicians have always been masters of this skill.

"On The Third Star, the first obvious connection to Indian music would be through the sounds, then through the rhythms of the recording -- the droning tones, reminiscent of the tamboura, and soothing slow melodies conjuring the introductory alap of a raga. The percussionist, Bob Muller, plays tabla all over the record and his influence on the material is quite considerable. Most notably there are several tihais throughout certain pieces. (A tihai is an Indian rhythmic device, used at the end of phrases.) In addition, many of the pieces are based on asymmetrical rhythms, like seven beats. My hope with these 'odd' rhythms is that they continue to lope along within our western sense of groove without attracting too much attention to themselves. I think, that generally, we have succeeded with this."

Phil Scarff explains what convergence is possible between Indian music and jazz. "Use of tension and resolution is important in creating expression and forward motion in both musics. In Indian music, melodic tension and resolution is created in two primary ways: moving from dissonance to consonance with the drone, and by creating lines that move toward important melodic material central to the raga (chalan).

Rhythmic tension and resolution is created by the use of rhythmic patterns such as tihais, nauhais, and chakradhars, that typically resolve to sam (beat one of the rhythmic cycle). These ideas can also be used in [American] jazz and in Indo-jazz. In jazz, tension and resolution in achieved by harmonic movement; melodic movement, moving from dissonance to consonance against the underlying harmony; and rhythmic activity building into an importance beat in a cycle (this is similar to but less structured than Indian tihais, etc.). Indian classical music and Indo-jazz are very compatible with these melodic and rhythmic ideas; harmonic movement can be applied in Indo-jazz."

Sarod player, George Ruckert says that Indian music blends well with other styles, such as jazz, but stipulates, "The melodic and rhythmic repertoire of Indian music is quite vast. Polyphonic music can give us some of the gifts of the monophonic traditions, but has a hard time with the precision of tuning, emotional content, ornaments, improvised patterns, and lack of harmonic rhythms on Indian music. The "successful" fusions are possible in the light-classical realm, not in the classical, where there is so much to learn before playing it."

Room for originality within a structure is another asset shared by both jazz and (Northern) Indian music. Bhimsen Joshi says, "I listen to (my) old recordings to hear what is lacking so I can improve. When an artist starts at the beginning he always copies his guru, his master. After years and experiences, it is not enough. You must have your own ideas. Remaining true to your gharana's style and to what your guru has taught you, you have to infuse your own personality in your own individual musical style."

Some musicians also note the goofiness and great joyfulness displayed by practitioners of Indian music. This comes from the improvisational paradigm of Indian music (something else it shares with jazz) within which, as Senders says the musicians and particularly the vocalists can, "fail gloriously and succeed even more gloriously." This resonates with Charlie Parker's assertion that "If you want to be a great jazz musician, you have to be ready to be a fool. Senders adds, "The great Indian musicians are great chance takers, but a lot of people are so beholden to tradition that they are afraid to go up on the high board and jump."