Acclaimed sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee has a busy schedule. He recently released two singles from Feathered Creatures, his album that releases in June. Soon after the release, Chatterjee and guitarist Mark Lettieri of Grammy-winning jazz band Snarky Puppy will perform in Kolkata. In between planning, rehearsing and gearing up for the album, the musician talks to mid-day about taking a new sonic direction with Feathered Creatures and the wall of nepotism in arts that he aims to break with his foundation.
Excerpts from the interview.
What inspired you to create this album?
The sound of this album is youth-driven. A lot of artistes were pleasantly surprised that I went down this direction because they couldn’t imagine a classical artiste doing that. I initially started off making an electronica album. My content is raga-based, and Mark [explores] jazz funk. So, raga and jazz funk come together in a canvas of electronica and trance.
At what stage did Mark Lettieri join you?
Initially, it was Nakul Chouk, the album’s music producer, and I writing the songs. Mark got involved about two years ago. I had played a gig with Snarky Puppy in Mumbai. That’s how I met Mark and Michael [League]. When I took this album to Michael, he said, ‘This needs some guitars.’ Mark was the first person I thought of.
Mark and you have planned to perform the album in Kolkata in August.
The album will be out in June. We are bringing Mark to Kolkata in August. But this is a one-off [event]. The actual promotion starts with a North American tour in May 2027, when we will go to SFJazz [Centre], Barclays Centre, and Los Angeles. Then I plan to bring it to India in 2027. I think that Mark’s fans in the US deserve to hear it first.
Why so?
There is a great audience for instrumental music in the West. Also, to be honest, our country often tends to go gaga about things that the West goes gaga about.
You also spearheaded the Purbayan Arts and Music Foundation.
I moved from Kolkata to Mumbai about 14 years ago to further my career, but also because I liked Mumbai as a city. Then I realised how difficult it is to start from scratch in a new city. So, my vision over the last decade has been to help young artistes, who move from other cities to make their careers. That’s how the foundation came about.
I remember I played at Shankarji’s [Shankar Mahadevan] Ganpati, where Sachin Tendulkar heard me. Everybody took a selfie with him. I was a little shy, but he called me over, made me meet his family and appreciated me. It feels surreal [because] in this country there is so much nepotism that the first question is, ‘Whose kid are you? Who is your father?’ I’m trying to work hard [to beat those obstacles] through this foundation.
Did you know?
Purbayan Chatterjee and Mark Lettieri
Purbayan Chatterjee and Mark Lettieri performed some songs from the album at the Neeta Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in January. At that time, the album was called ‘Sitar Stories’
Rakesh Chaurasia and Ojas Adhiya
On May 30, Purbayan Chatterjee will kick off his six-city India tour with flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, tabla player Ojas Adhiya and percussionist Shikhar Naad Qureshi