Album Notes

The music is based on the Indian Classical 'ragas' (melodies depicting a mood) and 'taals' (rhythmic cycles) played with the sitar (Alif Laila) and the tabla (Tanmoy Bose). To complement the universality of the theme, jazz saxophone (Bernhard Ullrich) was chosen to add a different shade of color with the music. Combining the textures of the saxophone, the sitar, and the tabla suggests how elements of nature can converge in harmony.Spontaneous and unwritten, the deep connection of the artists with the music gave birth to a seamless tapestry in the musical story of "I Am A River". The selection and the arrangement of the 'ragas', the tempo of rhythm, and the musical techniques all compose a sophisticated metaphor to the stages of life, the motion of the river and spiritual dvelopment.
The three 'ragas' that were chosen to compose and improvise each melodic expression for the different tracks are: Nat Bhairav (mood of devotion) , Kirwani (mood of romance) and Megh(mood of devotion.
The improvisational musical creativity of two genres of music has brought about a new freshness and unique richness to this album.