Sarathy Korwar & Upaj Collective + Nordanians
SARATHY KORWAR & UPAJ COLLECTIVE:
Tamar Osborn sax, Achuthan Sripathmanathan violin, Giuliano Modarelli guitar, Alistair Macsween keys, Domenico Angarano bass, Sarathy Korwar drums/tabla
NORDANIANS:
Oene van Geel viola, Niti Ranjan Biswas tabla, Mark Tuinstra guitar
For his new album My East Is Your West, Sarathy Korwar selected music from jazz heroes and Indian musicians who attempted to bridge the gap between Western and Eastern music in the 1960s and 70s. With his UPAJ Collective, featuring musicians from jazz as well as the Indian tradition, he appropriates pieces by, among others, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane and Ravi Shankar. The result is hypnotic jazz that brings together Western harmonies with Indian forms such as raga and tala. Sarathy Korwar has previously collaborated with British jazz innovators such as Binker and Moses and Shabaka Hutchings, as well as with American DJ/producer Hieroglyphic Being.
Similarly, the Nordanians are renowned for their ‘rich combination of Indian and western rhythms’ (NRC). When these three musicians played together for the first time, spontaneous fireworks ignited, after which tey started composing together. The trio consists of viola player Oene van Geel, known from the string quartet Zapp4, alongside guitarist Mark Tuinstra and table player Niti Ranjan Biswas.
Sarathy Korwar and his Upaj Collective already know the Nordanians, they played together before.