In
keeping with its primary aim to bring about a convergence of ideas on
truth and harmony through music and dance, the 6th
edition
of the Sufi Sutra, a World Peace Music Festival has drawn sufi as
well as world music groups from across the world.
The
second day of the festival will once again bring a fresh perspective
to the East West Local – a fusion of Goan and Bengali folk music
and also introduce two new groups –
Karossel
(Portugal) which focuses on traditional Portuguese music and dance
and the American Sufi Project with its slant on devotional/spiritual
fusion music.
Presenting
a never-before fusion of Goan and Bengali folk music for the last
three years, the East West Local will present their new compositions
along with some extracts from their earlier album ‘Trans Bangla’
which was the Indian pick of the Top World Music Albums (2014). “It’s
a collaboration between musicians of West Bengal and Goa,” explains
singer Debalina Bhowmick of the seven member team.
“I
sing traditional Bengali songs as well as the Baul and Kirtans and
will be accompanied by two traditional Bengali folk musicians.
Our
idea is to present the traditional Bengali music and fuse it with
western music from Goa.
It
is an interesting mix as the music in Goa is not totally Western, but
rather a touch of the western with an eastern flavour,” avers
Debalina.
Percussionist
Carlos Gonsalves who teams up with guitarist Elvis Lobo, Steve
Francis and saxaphonist John Fernandes from
Goa points out how the similarity between Goan and Bengali folk music
has helped them develop a blend of rhythms in a ‘fused form’.
“We
are trying to fit our groove into their raagas;
for example the 6/8 rhythm like the mando beat. We take old Konkani
folk songs and redo it in our own contemporary fusion style.
The
festival is a great opportunity to take Goan folk/root music to an
international level,” says this musician who envisages another
collaborative album from the group.
Playing
on Asian soil for the first time despite Goa’s historical connect
with Portugal, Karrossel is elated to perform a set of traditional
Portuguese folk music and dance for an audience that understands its
language and culture.
“The
Karrossel project is to showcase traditional Portuguese folk music
and dance.
Our
purpose is to develop and investigate traditional Portuguese
music/dance with contemporary
music. All the songs have a dance associated with them
and
we generally have a teacher accompanying us to teach the audience to
dance.
Fifty
per
cent
of the music we play is traditional Portuguese music and dance like
the Vira
do Minho
or Fado
Batido
and the other half is music from the rest of Europe.
We will also present some of our own compositions today,” explains
team leader Hugo Osga of the Oporto based group, which will play a
mix of traditional Portuguese instruments like the Portuguese bagpipe
and accordion,
the African drum, Indian Banjo and the Australian didgeridoo,
among others.
Striking
a chord with American artistes
who gathered at the Zikr
at
the Dergah-Al-Farah in New York City, Sufi music was to find a new
following and interpretation by six musicians from varied musical
backgrounds,
who drew together
under the American Sufi Project (2014)
with
a slant on the spiritual/devotional hymns. “Our reprtoire of music
is derived from the Mevlevi order/Rumi which is based on the Zikr and
Sema ceremonies,” explains group-member Tomchess who plays the oud
and ney.
Lending
his instrumental support with the fretless guitar and kamancheh,
Gabriel marin explains that though their music has a more religious
bent, they also improvise on the traditional forms to present a more
contemporary fused sound, with reverence for the original forms with
the aim of introducing this music to a wider audience.
Reiterating
the ultimate purpose of the group, they explain that “the intention
of the project is to transmit through music and art, the divine love
and interconnectedness they have experienced through the
participation in sufi music.”
Box:
Today at Sufi
Sutra
American
Sufi Project (USA) – 6:15am
East
West Local
(India)
– 7:15pm
Karrossel
(Portugal) – 8:15pm
Workshops:
February 12
Karrossel
and American Sufi Project between 10:30am
and 1:30pm
At DKM, Kala
Academy, Panjim
