KOCHI: Fusion music may not be a new concept. But depending on how it is lined up, each attempt could be fresh — for instance, the pairing of Hindustani with jazz in the new creative collaboration by sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee. He bridges international and Indian music through the star-studded album Unbounded (Abaad). The eminent musician has composed seven tracks in the line-up, collaborating with celebrated Grammy award-winning musicians from the US, UK and India.
Unbounded showcases beautiful blends of Latin, jazz, folk, country, Sufi, Western and Hindustani classical music styles. The rich line-up includes global masters like Ustad Zakir Hussain, V Selvaganesh, U Rajesh, 15 times Grammy winner Béla Fleck, Gary Husband, Jordan Rudess, Antonio Sanchez, Thana Alexa, Shankar Mahadevan, Deepak Pandit, Rashid Khan, Anat Cohen and Michael League among others. Unbounded recently had its worldwide release through the UK-based, South Asian-focused music media platform ‘Sufiscore’.
Malayalam playback singer Gayatri Asokan, who sang two tracks for the legendary album, is on Cloud nine. Gayathri gleams while elaborating about her ‘Unbounded’ experience. “It all started in January. After the pandemic break, Purbayan came up with a collaborative music project. Luckily, we got funds from Sufiscore and was able to bring in almost all the celebrated musicians,” she shares.
The album was produced adhering to Covid protocol. Gayathri, who is settled in Mumbai for the past five years says most of it happened over video conferencing. “It was a big challenge to coordinate everything. The vocals were recorded and sent to the musicians to mix their parts, and even if there is a single note missing, we have to re-record it for perfection,” she says.
Gayatri sang the tracks Sukoon (Catharsis) with Grammy nominee Thana Alexa and Nayi Shuruaat (New Beginnings) with Afghanistan singer Wali Fateh Ali Khan. For her, the album is a dream come true and a learning curve. Sukoon is a marriage between ghazal and jazz where pianist Carmen Staaf has offered his soothing melody alongside Purbayan’s sitar. Ustad Zakir Hussain has rendered the tabla, Antonio Sanchez the drums and Michel League has played the bass guitar. “For me, performing with Zakir and other artists was an award by itself. Zakir’s last ghazal collaboration was in 1996,” she says.
The second track Nayi Shuruaat was recorded three months ago by Afghan singer Wali Fateh Ali Khan. “For him, things were not easy as the Taliban has put restrictions on everything, including music. So Wali escaped to Pakistan after recording the track for us. Thus, the song also has a personal and cultural significance and is a testimony for bravery,” she says.“The pandemic has been hard for artists. We hope this project motivates others to believe in their art,” says Gayatri.