Anjuna
The Tracks
The title track of the album was inspired by my trip to the beachside town, Anjuna, in Goa. On market day, it's a riot of colour, with bejewelled fabrics and hippy T-shirts and jeans, and the odd sacred cow.
This track was inspired by my travels to Brazil, especially the Amazon jungle and the Pantanal. I lived in Brazil in my twenties and studied its music; I was fascinated by the Amerindians, who were part of Aztec and Inca culture, and who are represented by the flute in the first section.
When I visited Old Goa, the contrast between the white Portuguese colonial churches and the colourful Hindu temples, with their many gods, made a lasting impression on me. The music reflects this in its bi-culturalism, and its use of sitar at the start, and the playful
entries of the accordion and the violin.
Mambo is a crazy piece of disco music mixed with Cuban salsa and tabla, inspired by my journey across Cuba on a charity cycle ride in 1999. It is frivolous and improvised, with a surprising classical section that joins up to the main theme. This reflects my passion for
combining classical music with jazz and other popular styles.
Having spent many childhood winters in Mumbai as a child, this piece reflects the city's madness, many cultures and religions. Mumbai is the city of diversities in every sense of the word - both astonishing and dismal, beautiful and ugly at the same time.
This was born out a musician's dream back in 1998: I was given access to a free recording studio. And in three days I composed two pieces of music, and found musicians to record it with me. I have always been inspired by Tango Argentina, and I came up with Space Tango. I decided to revisit it seven years later.
Having visited Sri Lanka several times in the year before the tsunami struck, I was very moved by this tragedy and the repercussions of it, which go on to this day. I wrote this piece in January 2005 as a memorial to the victims of the tsunami. It was performed the following
month at a fund-raising concert at Burgh House in Hampstead.
The other Musicians:
Mehboob Nadeem - sitar
Igor Outkine - accordion
Sarah Harrrison - violin
Rob Lavers - saxophones and flute
Jamie Trowell - drums and percussion
Jules Faife - bass
