Manoyatri – The Mind Voyager

Manoyatri is a set of four exciting new compositions by Australia-based Avra Banerjee who trained in Indian classical music and also plays the sarod on this album, but his speciality lies in fusion. He presents 22 musicians from three continents – including famous ones like Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla and Purbayan Chatterjee on sitar – alongside Indian and western instruments and vocals. While firmly based in Indian classical music, there are numerous diverse influences and some unusual syncopated rhythms. The tracks, named after the holiest pilgrimage sites of the Hindu religion, take the mind on a spiritual journey with music that draws one in from the very first track, ‘Ganga Kaleidoscope’, evoking a range of emotions as the holy river can be both tranquil and raging. The second track, ‘Vrindavan Sojourn’, (Vrindavan being the home of Hindu god Krishna), starts with a purely Indian classical tone and segues to a playful combination of blues and jazz. But one of the highpoints appears on the final track ‘Yamuna Yearnings’ (the holy twin-river is also spelt ‘Jamuna’) which begins with a sarangi intro by Murad Ali Khan, leading into a thumri (light classical song) and going on to an exciting duet between the masculine-sounding sarod played by Praashekh Borkar and the heartrending feminine tone of the sarangi.