Our Correspondent
Kohima | December 22
Like air or water, music cannot be held back. It flows seamlessly from one plane to another, from one musical language to another, there are boundaries yet there are no boundaries. There is clarity of the horizon where the music manifests itself yet the horizon also gets blurred and lost as it seamlessly continues to mingle into another horizon. Music is a flow of energy that connects each culture, each nation, each tribe, each home and each of us to everyone else and to everything else.
The ”Harmony of Horizons" is a captivating musical journey that seamlessly fuses the rich and diverse traditions of North East and South India. This instrumental album features the dynamic interplay of two guitars and a bass guitar, creating a unique blend of sounds that transcend regional boundaries.
Listeners are taken on a musical pilgrimage, where the sounds of the instruments create a harmonious tapestry that reflects the unity in diversity found in the cultural landscapes of North East and South India.
The compositions showcase the similarities and differences between these two musical traditions, celebrating the rich heritage of each region while highlighting the universality of music.
Treekam is a project which will feature three stringed instruments and the first installment features acclaimed bassist Bunny Brunel, Abhay Nayampally and ArenlongLongkumer.
Bunny Brunel formed the Jazz supergroup CAB along with Dennis Chambers and Tony MacAlpine. His Band CAB earned a Grammy nomination for CAB 2 – Best Contemporary Jazz Album; and early in Brunel’s career as a member of Chick Corea’s Band, Secret Agent received a Grammy nomination. The endlessly talented Bunny Brunel collaborated and performed the theme for Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning masterpiece The Unforgiven. He has also played with many legends like Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Jarreau, Stevie Wonder, Ziggy Marley, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Stanley Clarke, Steve Grossman, and more.
Bunny Brunel shares his thoughts on the project, “Sandeep Chowta is a very talented composer, music producer and one of the nicest person. It’s always a pleasure to play with any project he produces. Looking forward to Treekam.”
Abhay Nayampally is a senior disciple of legendary Mandolin Vidwan, Late Padmashree U Srinivas. Abhay is one of the few guitarists who plays the electric guitar in a carnatic style and his knowledge and vocabulary of carnatic classical music places him in a very unique position. He has been awarded with the title of Sangeeta Kalaaratnamand he has performed with artists such as Shankar Mahadevan, Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, Purbayan Chatterjee, Louis Banks and many more.
Arenlong Longkumer is a young guitarist from Mokokchung in Nagaland and his prowess on the fretboard caught Sandeep's attention and when Treekam was being conceived, his name was considered given his ability for writing for the guitar and he will add the very unique Naga folk element in the mix. Arenlong is being promoted by the Task Force for Music & Arts, Nagaland Government. Arenlong in the past has won Best guitarist Hornbill International Rock Contest 2013, Winner of Strandberg Guitar Contest India 2020, third place Jack Gardiner Guitar Contest (International) 2020 and he is also the Recipient of TAFMA Excellence Award 2020.
This album is a result of a friendship formed many years ago between the producers of the album Sandeep Chowta and Arpito Gope. Acclaimed Bollywood Composer Sandeep Chowta, who composed for nearly 100 movies from Bollywood to Tollywood films, and Arpito Gope, an aficionado who enjoys reviewing jazz albums and writing about music, have in the past come together to produce a track for a cause in 2021 and have always wanted to produce albums together. As students, listeners and unabashed admirers of Jazz music, they want to share different sounds to a global audience. Naga music has not been exposed in this manner and by guitar as an instrument and this will be a unique step forward.
Produced under the banner of Namma Music this album will add to the extraordinary output of Sandeep Chowta under the label as he had pulled off forty plus albums in the last four years with every album barring one topping the All India itunes music charts. The one album which didn't make it to the top made it to the number two spot on the charts.
'Harmony of Horizons' by Treekam will be released sometimes early in 2024.
