JOIN USAbout matters of the heart
His collaboration with the international music band, Spyro Gyra, has been creating waves worldwide. Apart from this, his forthcoming album, ‘Matters of the Heart’ which features a list of jazz icons, is also impressive.
This multi-faceted composer talks to Metrolife about his journey so far and his future plans.
Music, nowadays, is all about collaboration and Indian musicians are not left behind. About the collaboration with Spyro Gyra, he says, “I have been a huge fan of Spyro Gyra for over 20 years. It is just awesome how everything fell into place. Two-and-a-half-years back, I got them to play on my record and now with this song, we have taken the association further.”
What he feels is incredible is that it is a Hindi song, which is a first for any Indian composer. He says, “The song has a jazz setting with Hindi lyrics. What happens most of the time is that whenever a song is composed overseas, an entire song is translated into English or a few lines in Hindi are added. But this was nothing like that.”
He points out that any collaboration can be a success only when an artiste does not lose his identity even when he plays with another musician. Recalling his experience with Spyro Gyra, he says, “In the beginning, I had sent them a sample of my recording which was very much like their way of playing. But they wanted something that was essentially my type of music and that’s how this Hindi song was born.”
Apart from this, he heads the label ‘Columbia Records’ in India, which he says is very helpful for budding artistes. “If an artiste is launched today, he or she is in a dire situation because they don’t have great support. That’s where we come in. We will give them a platform by holding a line-up of shows to keep them in the public eye,” he explains.
Having visited Bangalore many times, he seems to love the people here. “I love the City,” he says.
“The people here have given me so much love. I have very pleasant memories of the City. People here are very liberal and friendly,” he adds.
He is looking forward to the release of ‘Matters of the Heart’. Besides, he is putting together a new live band and a tour called ‘One for the Road’ which will feature various international artistes. So what are his plans for this new band? “I’ve spent a lot of time in the studio jamming and making music with these guys and eventually that led to a desire to just go out and play live. Another reason I put this band together was because I wanted to bring these brilliant musicians to a wider audience and not restrict them to jazz fans. And I want this band to play in my country, doing shows I haven’t done before, and performing film hits I have never performed before. We’re doing a full-fledged multi-city India tour starting this month.”