For someone who took 30 years to realise music, the journey of his life has been quite a roller-coaster ride. “I took three decades to figure out the kind the music I wanted to make,” says Yuri Honing, who is counted among Holland’s top saxophone players.

A gifted musician, Yuri says it wasn’t easy to know what he wanted from life. “For the longest time, I was wondering where my music was leading me. I learnt how to play
the piano as a kid,” Yuri says.
Starting out early at the age of 18, Yuri, who appears in his mid 40s, admits to finally finding music in himself. “When you start that early, you have hundred impressions and ideas in your head. You look up to your idols, inspirations and try to emulate them. I did all of that and then realised my music is in me and I don’t really need to look for it outside,” he explains.
At the recent Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) in Jodhpur, Yuri was quite the cynosure of all eyes, as he got everyone grooving to his smooth and sophisticated saxophone melodies.
This isn’t the first trip he’s made to the country. “I met some Rajasthani artistes in 2008, and found them incredibly talented and fresh with their rich tradition and repertoire of music. There was something authentic about their voice. And finally this year, my band and I got a chance to collaborate with them. It’s been a fabulous experience working with them,” he says, adding that people make too many fusion and international collaborations. “As a musician, you simply have to be professional. If that’s taken care of, then everything else falls into place,” Yuri says.
The world, which is becoming increasingly connected, doesn’t let boundaries come in the way of musicians. “I’m inspired by different styles of music from different countries. There’s so much to learn from so many varied musical styles. In India, I’m quite taken by different folk styles and Sufi
music. At the RIFF, I was quite intrigued by the khartal instrument. The sound of it was something that I hadn’t heard before. I also like Lebanese music and might travel to Ethiopia, where there’s some innovative and good music,” he says.
One of the surprising facts is that Yuri has been using the same saxophone since he was 18. “This instrument was something I got from another person who had also owned it for a long time. I had set my eyes on it and persuaded him for quite some time. It has lasted this long because I have a brilliant repairman. I believe this mouthpiece was made for me. I’ve grown with it and there’s a lot of emotional attachment to it,” he says.
Currently, Yuri is looking forward to interesting collaborations across the world, including composing music for Bollywood. “I’ve heard that the film industry in India is huge, and people are crazy about it. If there’s an opportunity, why not take it up? I’m also focusing on the electronic and acoustic forms. There’s melody in both, and in my early days, I would try finding that in these forms,” he says.
“Over the years, I’ve learnt a lot of things. And now as one gets older, you also get over a lot of things. There is fear, but you want to embrace it at this stage. I got my first break in 2008 and that’s when a lot of things fell in place. I had to record in less than a week and I actually destroyed all my compositions over the years to start afresh. That’s when I realised what I wanted and took on from there,” Yuri says.