For about a year now, Shaju Vaadiyil has been working hard on his dream project — setting up a fusion band for Carnatic music and building a repertoire. There may be some distance still to cover, but global recognition has already come his way.
Kozhikode-based TranSwaras’s Anyayamu seyakura (a Thyagaraja kriti in Raga Kaapi ) has won the silver medal at the Global Music Awards competition, in the World Fusion category. It also won the band’s lead vocalist P.V. Bose the silver medal. The Global Music Awards are distributed annually to independent musicians, chosen from entries from around the world. The jury comprises eminent musicians, including Grammy and Emmy winners.
“It is indeed a big honour, being recognised by great musicians on a global platform,” Shaju told The Hindu here on Sunday. “This silver medals are a great boost for me and the band.”
The violinist said it was after holding several discussions with Bose, a Puducherry-based Malayali singer, the idea about a fusion band for Carnatic music took shape. “He liked my suggestion of having a series of songs devoted to different gods like Ganesha, Rama and Vishnu,” he said.
Three songs
“We have recorded three songs so far and have to do another three more before we could conduct our maiden live show.”
He said the response to the medal-winning song was encouraging. “There has been a lot of appreciation from all quarters,” said Shaju. “One of the first to listen to it was my father C.M. Vaadiyil, who used to play violin for the legendary composer M.S. Baburaj.”
Shaju said it was not easy to present Carnatic music in fusion style. “But I believe there is scope for such kind of music,” he said. “I do not think there have been too many attempts like ours in the past. We have tried to retain the essence of all the Carnatic kritis that we are featuring.”
First show
The orchestra has lead and bass guitars, flute, drums, mridangam and ganjira besides keyboards. “I am glad that our experiment has been accepted at the prestigious Global Music Awards,” said Shaju. “We hope to have our first show in January and to release our album through YouTube.”
