The bronze win at the Global Music Awards adds new sheen to Sanjay Swamy’s fusion album that is centred on the Hindustani classical form of thumri
Dhanashree Pandit-Rai (right) performs thumri at an event
Fusion is an oft overused adjective in music. The ability to blend diverse western and Indian rhythms, harmonies and forms can be a challenge even for the most talented musicians. With Always Here, Sanjay Swamy aka Storms brings a fascinating combination of western blends and rhythms to highlight the traditional style of thumri.
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The album earned two bronzes at the Global Music Awards 2022 on December 15 — producer and world music. Swamy says, “The prize does not really matter as much as the effort to highlight the style of thumri. Rather than going all over the place, it was to focus on that aspect of Hindustani classical music.”
Sanjay Swamy
To this end, he collaborated with a familiar name — Dhanashree Pandit-Rai. The Mumbai-based singer is among the foremost exponents of the thumri. “Perhaps, it can best be compared to the jazz form in the Western genre,” she tells us. Pandit-Rai’s voice forms the locus around which Swamy’s orchestration is built.
Heading east, Holi and Passion eyes create wonderful musical rhythms that put a spin on the old folk music forms from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with a new synchronised Western base. This writer was particularly drawn to Heading east, Skins and Passion eyes that present movement and tempo.
The team for the orchestrations include names such as Sanjay Divecha (guitar), Manas Kumar (violin), Pramod Nair (percussion), Ashwin Srinivasan (flute) and Dutch musician Udo Dimante from Holland. Their finesse elevates the production quality and soundscape.
Pakshee (2019) (left) Saawan and Dhaaga (2022) by Bombay Bandook (right) Raahein (2022) and Tu kaun hai by Shadow and Light
Pandit-Rai explains that all the songs on the album stay loyal to the thumri. “The style is primarily influenced by love, expressed by Radha or Krishna,” the singer elaborates. For instance, the song Holi, she says, is a play on words about Radha asking Krishna to go easy and not throw colours in her eyes. Another example is Passion eyes, which Pandit-Rai says is an evolution of the old traditional thumri Rasake bhare tore nain, performed in raga Bhairavi.
Swamy adds that the process of creation required unlearning. “All of us had to learn and unlearn the pieces since there is very little of the original form retained in the album,” the 61-year-old musician says, before adding, “It is our presentation of the Indian culture of music in relation, and in dialogue with the rest of the world.”
This is not the only project on Swamy’s plate. The composer is also busy with production for The Indica Project, another fusion experiment with American guitarist-composer D Wood. The duo is preparing a follow-up to their 2022 release, Time Travel, he says. “It is a major album that we are working on, and it will come out in March or April 2023,” he reveals. Yet, it is the idea of fusion that enamours the musician more.
Homecoming (2022) by The Anirudh Verma Collective (left) Between Us (2022) by Anoushka Shankar (right) God is a drummer (2020) by Trilok Gurtu
“As youngsters, we started out as fans of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, John McLaughlin, Trilok Gurtu, among others. The objective was always that if the world is going right, let’s see what is on the left,” he remarks.
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