Timeless wisdom of Kahlil Gibran and songs that heal

Sarod brothers Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash have drawn inspiration from the Lebanese-American thinker in their new album, writes Ram Rakshith V

Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.

Lebanese-American writer and poet Kahlil Gibran’s philosophy has inspired many works. Sand And Foam, the latest album by Sarod players and brothers Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, is one of them.

The eight-track album offers an immersive musical journey while weaving in the timeless wisdom on identity, belonging, self-discovery and hope proposed by Gibran. The songs, mostly instrumental, go by the names of ‘The Wanderer’, ‘Fable Of The Forerunner’, ‘Spirits Rebellious’, ‘Prophets Of Prose’, ‘Mirrors Of The Soul’, ‘A Tear And A Smile’, etc.

Even the album’s title is drawn from Gibran’s ‘Sand and Foam — A book of aphorisms’, published in 1926. Amaan, the older of the two sons of sarod virtuoso Amjad Ali Khan, says, “It had a profound quote: ‘Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches. Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth’.”

To espouse togetherness in the divisive world we inhabit today, the album embraces both the Eastern and Western music traditions. So you can hear the mellifluousness of the sarod alongside jazz harmonies, trap drums, and neo-synths.

The theatrical album, which was ideated during the pandemic and dropped on July 29, also marks the maiden collaboration between the seventh-generation music duo from India and multi-Grammy award-winning record producer and bestselling author Kabir Sehgal.

“This album is jazz-heavy, which Kabir is well-versed in,” shares Amaan. As for the brothers, they were dabbling in jazz for the first time. “Jazz is like an ocean and it was a challenge for us to adapt to it,’’ he admits.

Though their father is a staunch traditionalist, he also believes in adapting to the evolving music scene, they inform.

Some other guest artistes on the album are Claudia Acuna, Malini Aswathi and Sudha Raghunathan (on vocals), Tivon Pennicott and Oran Etkins (on saxophone), and rapper Caliph.

Instrumental albums are evocative. In their pure form, they can set off feelings of love, loss, and hope and universally so. But they pose a challenge to artistes because there is nothing to hide behind if the music is bad. This doesn’t deter the Sarod siblings though. “Through instrumental music, listeners can imagine the collaboration of musicians and various cultures. It can heal this divided world,” says Ayaan.

You can listen to the album on all digital platforms.