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 While music communicates across boundaries, traditional music often remains confined to certain geographical localities and practised by certain traditional communities who play them during festivals, death, birth or marriages in the Indian countryside. In order to draw out this form of music from its narrow moorings, the
EarthSync music
festival, recently organised in Chennai. It saw the performance of traditional musicians on the same platform as those of classical and contemporary music traditions.
The EarthSync festival was a spectacular evening of music. Artistic stage design, video screening, food court and an exceptional musician line-up came together to create a compelling, contemporary experience.
The festival in the urban context was on a mission to reintroduce traditional music to a new generation by making it look very contemporary.
 The fest was a celebration of musical unity in all its rich and harmonious diversity. Musicians interacted with each other beyond music disciplines and cultural boundaries. Different styles and genres flowed from one to the other, each complementing the other to create a very unique musical experience. Folk, sacred, Carnatic, classical, Middle-Eastern, Western and electronic all came together to celebrate the spirit of sound.
The EarchSync festival was a three-part show. It opened with the sound of pads and bells, gongs, veena, and fender Rhodes. Carnatic vocalist Anuradha Vishwanathan and Dr K A Gunasakaran flexed their vocal chords to the maximum. Chants by monks from Tashi Lhunpo monastery filled the atmosphere. Sufi musicians from Nagore, (the Ajmer of south India) performed along with Tapatham and Tudumbattam groups.
Music director Paul Jacob on the bass jammed with percussionists K V Balakrishnan, G Parthasarathy, A. Saravanan and Chen Zimbalista, veena player Punya Srinivas and violinist B V Raghavendran. Other musicians who performed were B Hemanathan on the nagaswaram, Bikram Singh on the flute, Kartick and Gotam on pads and bells.
There was a wide range of instruments put on display.
Pads and bells, pad and loop, gongs, fender Rhodes, bells, pad and fx, morsing, fx, duki tharang, kanjira, drums, violin, veena, tavil, nagaswaram, bass and bass dholak, harmonium, etc.
The second part of the programme was held in the food court where an exhibition of still photographs by Timur Angin was on. It also saw video screenings of tracks of the Laya Project done by
EarthSync.
The star performer was DJ Ma Faiza
who demonstrated her skills in elctro folk. Bikram Singh supported her on the flute. Faiza, born in Africa to Indian parents, has evolved as a DJ in London, playing at some of the biggest parties and festivals on the planet. She writes for several global publications and is an artist and producer. She heads
Masti Music, an electronica-influenced record label based in
Pune.
The third segment was much more scintillating than the previous. It began with blowing of the drone, long horn by the monks of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery. After that Nagore Sufi singers took the stage by storm. Their folk songs in Tamil made the audience go into a trance. A few
jumped and danced in ecstasy during their performance.
 There were altogether 10 numbers in the last segment. The tapatam jam was a musical delight.
Song Hai La Sa was super hit. The festival came to close with a solo performance by Anuradha Vishwanathan and was joined by other musicians, making it a memorable evening.
“It’s through performance that music tradition thrives and the true spirit of music is best experienced through live performance,” said Ejaz Ahmed, an IT professional who watched the festival from the beginning till end.
“The EarthSync festival was born out of deep respect for musicians and music. It was an attempt to encourage musicians evolve their unique style while uniting music forms of other cultures with the rich ethnic music of their own roots,” said music director Paul Jacob who had the set musical score for Tamil actor Sharat Kumar’s 100th film
‘Thalaimagan’.
EarthSync is a world music record label based in Chennai. Through its hi-end recording studio Clementine, EarthSync is committed to nurturing folk, tribal and native music – the roots music through which cultures express themselves across time. Using technology and electronica to bring a subtle and fresh perspective to roots music, EarthSync managed to grab the ears of a wide audience by creating a fresh sound experience.
The label also produces world music visual projects to document rare and unique performances in native locations, some of which have never been documented before.
The Laya
Project, an EarthSync production, is a visual musical project based on the folk music of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Myanmar and Maldives - six Asian countries affected by the tsunami of December 2004. Some of its musicians were farmers, fishermen and non-professional musicians recorded and filmed on-location.
EarthSync festival is a noble idea to nurture and promote traditional musical form. It adds to the richness of the musical tradition of the country. Such efforts need encouragement and support from all the quarters.
Syed Ali Mujtaba
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EarthSync fest - The roots of music
