Sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee’s music consistently aims to bridge cultures as he searches for new voices, interpreting the classical approach in new and innovative ways. His new EP, CLASSICOOL, is yet another example of his future-facing outlook towards music. The EP hopes to focus on the use of modern sounds and arrangements within the parameters of Indian classical music and the end result, the artist says, “is a very accessible, spirited and diverse mix of sounds featuring Sangeet Haldipur (keys), Ojas Adhiya (tabla), Nastya Saraswati (violin), Megha Rawoot (sitar) and percussionist Shikhar Naad Qureshi.” We catch up with the musician to find out everything you need to know about this new EP, that just released.
“CLASSICOOL retains classical ragas and presents them in a modern soundscape and in the recent past, since I have gotten back to playing the ‘see-tar’ — as heard on my last single Two-Thirds, I’ve discovered many new exciting tones on it,” Purbayan begins. “I have also upgraded the technology behind the see-tar and I wanted a platform to showcase these new sounds and in a new context as well,” he adds.
The four-track EP features music that would interest an international audience just as much an Indian one. While traditionalists might enjoy Kalyani (which is based on raga yaman in carnatic music and its harmonic arrangements) more, Pace of Mind is a song that Purbayan wrote many moons ago but has reworked it with the new collective with the hope of introducing new audiences to it. For fans of western classical music, Bach Minuet will sound familiar but Indian. There’s also Bhairavi which has a touch of ‘folk’ to it and a see-tar solo.
“The CLASSICOOL EP, from which I have just released the first single Pace of Mind features four tracks, three of which are originals and one is a recreation of the time-honoured Bach Minuet. Pace of Mind is a composition which I created in Tel Aviv (Israel) in 2007 and I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of performing it with stalwarts like Ustad Zakir Hussain, Louis Banks, Taufiq Qureshi, Shankar Mahadevan, Ranjit Barot, Kaushiki Chakravarty, Rakesh Chaurasia and many others. Kalyani is a more recent creation and we have performed this live with a great singer Vijay Prakash under the baton of the one and only Ustad Zakir Hussain,” Purbayan elucidates.
Though CLASSICOOL was earlier a revolving door band, the collective in its present state is likely to stay static for the next few releases. “This band is the right fit for me to showcase not just the see-tar but also new formats and arrangements that had been in my head for a while. Post the release of Two Thirds it was logical that I try out all these different tones and sounds and bring some of the knowledge, that I had gathered even while making Unbounded (previous album), to an Indian collective where we could try all this in the form of some brand new repertoire and some pieces that I had previously presented in earlier work,” he further explains.
Excerpts from the interview:
What can you tell us about the revival of CLASSICOOL this year? What prompted it, and did you want to do anything differently this time round?
For me every project is a calling. This year, I have been spending more time with my transparent, see-through sitar, which I called the see-tar. I felt like I should upgrade the sounds and the technology that goes behind it. Having done that I felt a need to revive CLASSICOOL as a band.
How did you decide to curate the list of artistes that you have worked for the 2023 version of CLASSICOOL?
I wanted to curate a very compact band which featured a very strong percussion section but also would be harmonically very intelligent and strong. We ended up doing a concert in Mumbai in January 2023 and that went down really well which prompted me to stick with the same band that I used for the concert .
What can we expect from you next?
Up next will be a classical album with the tabla maestro Yogesh Shamsi and this will be followed by a whole bunch of sessions that we are recording and shooting at my foundation PAAMF (Purbayan Arts and Artists Music Foundation). This is a very experimental space and I feel like the time has come to put out a lot of experimental projects, as well as a lot of traditional projects.
CLASSICOOL is now streaming across all major audio platforms.
romal@newindianexpress.com
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