Dear friends,
Wishing you a positive transition into 2025:) Hope have all been able to have a bit of peace, calm and nourishment during the holidays. I always take these moments in this transit between years to reflect on the highlights- milestones- learning of the previous year and in a gentle way, use it as a launching pad to look ahead. Somehow, with the pace of life and the way time flies, it is really easy to lose track of all the beautiful moments and memories created in the year, be it professional or personal. I really have enjoyed taking stock of 2024 and realising how big a year it was for me! As a freelance artist, no day, week, month or year is really ever the same. The professional engagements, choices, and lifestyle that surrounds it definitely keeps me on my toes. And as a disciplined, structured, and routine-oriented individual, I am grateful for the chaos.
This year felt especially significant because I turned 40! In the lead up to entering a new decade and period of my life, It felt important me to curate, connect, and celebrate with music and also to mark it with a couple of musical goals; 1- to showcase my solo compositions, old and new. 2- to perform an indian classical set with indian violin, which i play so rarely in public especially since starting to study Hindustani music with Prattyush Banerjee in Kolkata. So, i set out to do just this :)
…On a side note, I wrote an entry for my childhood friend and author Nishta Mehra’s blog about my relationship to music as a spiritual practice, which is very connected to my experience of Indian music. You can read this here: https://nishtajmehra.substack.com/p/music-as-a-spiritual-practice
Birthday Celebration & The launch of TFG
For my milestone birthday, I organised a night of music and dance at a local venue called Hoxton Cabin called 'Traveling the Face of the Globe', which became the beginning of more curated nights throughout the year.
My close friends and stunning musicians Saied Silbak, oud extraordinaire, and Ana Silvera, singer-songwriter, kicked off the evening sharing songs from their new project 'Songs we Carry' which explores the common ground between their heritages– the emotive melancholy of Ladino music and the rich Maqams and intricate melodies of Arabic song.
This linked so beautifully to the following act, a London-based Flamenco group Identidades (Bryan Reyes-guitar, Ago Hernandez-percussion, Carlos Barba Jiménez- voice, and guest Laura González- voice) featuring Víctor Ramos, aka 'El Chuli'- a wonderful dancer visiting from Barcelona. Claudia Rubia and Aitana Sola also danced, and the entirety of the group's set was spirited and gripping.
The night continued on with a jam where different styles, people, and cultures interacted—something bound to happen in London that makes this city so special and why I truly feel blessed to be here. Moments of kathak bols and footwork meeting Flamenco tango, or jazz guitar and indian melodies soaring above!
It was really quite the atmosphere and so so special for me to see such incredible music-making happening and also an audience of stunning musicians, artists and friends. A night that I was truly honoured to host, to see, and to be a part of. Thank you to everyone who came down:) and to Héctor Manchego for capturing the lovely images above/below and also some pictures from my dear friend Isaac Swift of the event on a real film camera!
Solo Debut @ Canterbury Free Range
One of my main artistic goals this year was to perform some of my solo compositions live. Over the years I have been composing, but many of my own works are hidden gems that haven't really been shared widely. I'm very fortunate to have received a creative award from Help Musicians UK to support some gigs/touring and to have beeen able to bring along a stellar team of collaborators (and of course all close friends!!)
The first iteration of this project was at Free Range Canterbury, a really thriving and community-driven event series in Kent. I re-arranged some of my existing music plus wrote new compositions for musicians Zac Gvi- multi-instrumentalist (piano, accordion, bass clarinet, clarinet- you name it he can play it!), Saied Silbak, oud maestro and percussion and also brought along Mithun Gill and Nandita Shankardass, two beautiful dancer/choreographers, to perform a set of three pieces that they had choreographed to. It was beautiful to watch the music come alive and to also have such a warm and receptive audience that was eager to listen to more/find the pieces again.
This definitely boosted my confidence and let me see that there was indeed a place and space for my contemporary compositions. I also felt very blessed to have other musicians/artists who wanted to be a part of the music-making. Zac, Saied and I, with my go to filmmaker Hatem Kiwan, created three new videos of two new tracks of mine and one of Zac’s- which you can find on my youtube channel and on the right.
TFG Jamboree - Indian Classical Trio & Common Cause
Filmed by Thom Seamann, a collaborative choreography by Mithun Gill & Nandita Shankardassin response to a violin and piano instrumental piece from my solo EP ‘Rebirth’
'Unfolding'...the weight of uncertainty, personal and societal, transformed into the discovery of the unknown. Drawing on the confluences of Indian, Arabic, and contemporary music.
Another highlight to the summer was the second edition of TFG- Indian Classical- that I curated at Jamboree, one of my favourite venues in town. With two stunning musicians, Giuliano Modarelli- a dear friend and versatile guitarist- and the brilliant tabla player Harkiret Singh, we presented an Indian Classical-inspired set bringing our contemporary take to the style. It was a wonderful vibe with a full house and such a nice challenge and opportunity to play Indian violin, which is performed seated cross-legged on the ground, a style I have rarely performed in public. I invited Giuliano’s latest project, Common Cause, a cross-genre band to headline and they were fantastic and complementary, with their modal melodies and funky grooves.
Hatem Kiwan captured the music beautifully, which you can find on youtube too. It has been great to see the response to the trio, and since Jamboree, we have continued to perform together - pictures also from Diwali Wembley below- and are hoping to record an album in 2025.
TFG House Concert 1 - Flamenco meets Latin American
Putting on a gig at home as a space for music is a vision I have had since I moved to my home in the beginning of 2023. Such a gift to have space in a big city like London and for me, a dream to be able to fill it with all kinds of music, musicians, and warmth. And the seed to finally try it out came when a collaborator of mine, Martín Espada wanted to visit me to perform together again - the first time being in Seville in September 2023 in a charming venue called Allegro ma non troppo. Martin performed a mix of Latin American repertoire - some his arrangements- and his original compositions. Ago Hernandez, percussionist and I joined him in his set. To make the night complete, I invited my flamenco friends along with Víctor Ramos to perform, and together it really special evening. We lucked out with the good weather, and the garden was filled with vibrant rhythm and energy:) As host, cook, and artist, I definitely learned a lot from this night about event management!!! definitely a learning curve and ideas to shape the future house gigs.
Flamenco stories.
I’ve already mentioned flamenco a few times above, and it must have come through that I am a fan of the style and also play from time to time with flamenco artists and friends.
What you probably didn’t pick up though was that I also dance…as a beginner! In September 2023, I spent 3 weeks, taking Spanish classes and Beginner’s technique. A friend then invited me to play violin on a choreography and that was the start of my involvement at Escuela de Baile school run by Nuria Garcia and the spark to attending dance classes. I find like Indian art forms, flamenco is a style where music and dance are interconnected, deeply linked by rhythm. And doing both strengthens the understanding of the flamenco language. I took a beautiful course in the summer with Cristina Otero from Jerez, which really honed my interest and understanding of dance whilst showing me the complexities of the coordination—arms free flowing and expressive whilst feet solid and rhythmically precise.
This year has been full of informal jams in addition to gigs, particularly with my dear friends of Identidades. And a flamenco highlight for me was performing on the Jamboree Flamenco night in July with Adrian Sola (guitar), Monica Garcia (singer) and a fabulous dancer from Madrid named Cristina San Gregorio. I was definitely in the deep end being less experienced with the flamenco improvisatory language and how the dancer interacts. But even so, it was great to find my way and use my instinct to let the violin sing in the midst of the rhythm.
Green Room Collective
A multi-disciplinary project that took place this year over the course of three residencies and four performances was The Green Room Collective. Produced by Soumik Datta Arts, we were a team of migrant/refugee artists across disciplines, including two of my dearest friends Saied Silbak and Giuliano Modarelli. Giuliano and I were invited on to the project as facilitator of sorts, to hold the space and bring our collaborative experience. It isn’t easy to bring 7 artists from different cultures and artistic disciplines together in a short time to create a product, so we definitely had our challenges
With residencies at Hawkwood College in Dec 2023, January and March 2024, we created a new show that premiered at Rich Mix in February and evolved into a largely musical show through gigs in the summer in Sheffield, Stroud, and King’s Cross Coaldrops Yard music festival. reating a new show/ new musicGigs in Sheffield, Stroud, Kings Cross Coaldrops Yard summer festival.
The subject matter is poignant and touches on leaving home and the trials of moving out of both force and choice, and forging new homes. And we created some groovy pieces, with a great final team (Héctor Manchego -spoken word, film; Hossein Mirzagholi -bass, vocals; Giuliano Modarelli -guitar; Deeptarka Mukhopadhyay -tabla, dholak & dhol; Saied Silbak, oud).
Me without You
One of the summer projects/performances that I have been a part of is 'Me Without You' - a new multi-disciplinary piece about grief, love and loss co-created by composer Emily Levy (her own intimate story as the starting point) & Director Mella Faye. Two weeks in a vulnerable, playful, and ambitious creative process warmly led and incredibly held by Mella, bonding this stellar team of artists across dance/movement/sound/visuals: we played, laughed, danced, sang, improvised, moved, cried, listened, spoke, challenged and connected as we strived to discover and embody what this show is really about. The launch was at the prestigious Aldeburgh Festival in Snape Maltings, followed by shows in London and Leeds. The response all in all was very powerful, and fingers crossed the show continues in 2025.
TFG House Concert 2- Indian Classical
I was thrilled to host another house concert to kick off the winter, with up-and-coming sitarist Lakshay Mohan from Delhi accompanied by my dear friend, Harkiret Singh, tabla. I had to ask myself, why a house concert when there is so much music happening in venues all around London? For me, the special aspect of this is to be able to curate the evening, bring together musicians from my network, and make certain genres accessible to those who may not be familiar with it or know much- be it for musicians of another genre, music lovers, or new listeners. It was so cool to witness such profound virtuosity and playfulness so up close and personal, and to be handheld through the Hindustani Musical experience. and the chai, chaat and company was memorable too:)
Moment’s Notice @ Amp Studios, December 16th
I didn’t expect that this to make my highlights list, especially so close to the end of the year and the day before i was traveling to Indi, but this improvised gig event on December 16th, the vision of photographer George Nelson, has really managed to make a lasting impression on me and to also recognise my strengths as a performer and where I thrive.
Brought together for a fully improvised evening in different musical combinations with James Kitchman- guitar, Seb Rochford- drums, Luzmira Zerpa- Venezuelan singer/percussion, & Rosie Bergonzi- steel pan/percussion, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The night kicked off with James and me as a 40 minute duo performance, followed by the trio. and then we all came together for the final set.
My first fear was being cold! as it was outside. so I kept my many layers and ski gloves. and then tackled the problem through delicious homecooked Caribbean food and a shot of whiskey. The whiskey did the trick- i definitely felt warm and not just to manage my hands and get by but really fully from inside out. That is a huge part of playing an instrument that requires not only your physical flexibility from fingers, arms and full body but also your mental and emotional connection to the instrument.
Sometimes it is easy to feel boxed into a genre, or left to follow a more foundational instrument like piano or guitar. Or to perform pre-written music that has a clear identity of genre. And in this case, as a fully improvised set, the individual that you are with to create the dialogue will inform what the experience and the sonic output. But James and I were a lovely pairing; as a guitarist, he was listening and responding to what i did, and could venture into both harmonic leading whilst equally being versatile on melody and texture. It allowed us for a more expansive pallette and we even got into some shredding, free jazz like moments that contrasted the sweeter melodies that emerged.
In reflection, I valued this opportunity to remind myself that as much as I am an eternal student and will continue to grow musically and professionally, I have actually created a niche artistic voice for myself and have a strength as a performer and something meaningful to express.
Balladeste ~ My long-term duo project with Tara Franks
It has been another beautiful year of growth as a partnership and creating a vision together. A long-term collaboration is so different from fleeting, momentary projects, and Tara and I have now been musical partners since 2012. This requires being able to evolve together, set new challenges, and have a shared ethos and musical understanding.
We’ve traveled to Berlin and back, and around the UK performing, making time amidst it all to start writing our next duo album. At a time where living in different cities and having lots of individual work makes it challenging, there's nothing more beneficial to a shared creative practice than quality time:) I have been traveling to Hastings from time to time for mini residencies in Tara’s studio, the shed, which has definitely been fruitful.
Amongst a range of performances (Medicine Festival, GemArts Masala Festival in Newcastle, London-based Brazilian choro band Alvorada’s album launch, and more), some of the really memorable ones were Hastings Castle in the night backdrop of this magnificent outdoor setting, Colourscape music festival in the colourful inflatable installation.
This year also kicked off the start to some new duo collaborations. Tara and I curated a beautiful double bill at the end of the summer, the first of our SJQ residency series. Our guests were New York-based violin duo Arun Ramamurthy & Trina Basu, two artists that have forged a unique string duo that draws on Indian and Jazz influences.
We brought them into our tracks and played on one of theirs. With their sensitivity and fluidity across both composition and improvisation, we felt a great affinity to their creative process and output. You can check out their latest release Nakshatra here.
The second of our SJQ residency series was Dec 15th, where we premiered a new set of compositions/songs that we are writing with lovely singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Ana Silvera. This has been a unique process, for us to write collaboratively with another individual in the mix. Ana brings a sensitivity to our instruments and shared string language whilst adding a new element of lyrics and a songwriter’s ear and vision. We are really excited about the future of these pieces as we are in the process of recording so do keep an eye out:)
Personal Memorable moments
Though my post here is largely focused on music & collaborations, there have been so many beautiful personal moments this year that have added to its beauty: travels, bringing people together at my home and discovering myself as a gatherer/connector, and of course, quality time spent with friends old and new and family. I am ever grateful to be able to connect in all ways with those I love and to forge new connections and collaborations that continue to keep each day fresh and challenging plus keep my heart full.
