5051078994918
5051078998817
5051078006512

Travellers

Jason Singh & The Banwasi Collective

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Format: CD

Cat No: HUD029CD

Format Details:

Release Date:  22 September 2023

Label:  Hudson Records

Packaging Type:  Slip Sleeve (CD or Vinyl)

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  5051078994918

Genres:  World Music  India & Pakistan  

Release Date:  22 September 2023

Label:  Hudson Records

Packaging Type:  Slip Sleeve (CD or Vinyl)

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  5051078998817

Genres:  World Music  India & Pakistan  

Release Date:  22 September 2023

Label:  Hudson Records

Packaging Type:  Digipak

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  5051078006512

Genres:  World Music  India & Pakistan  

  • Description

    Jason Singh produces 'Travellers' by the Banwasi Collective from the desert state of Rajasthan, Northeast India. This album is an ode to earthly and spiritual love, migration and the ever changing landscape and climate of Rajasthan and the world at large.

    Whatever he touches, sound artist and composer Jason Singh brings sensitivity, nuance and soul, and 'Travellers' by the Banwasi Collective is no different. The album embraces multiple genres, faiths and languages, and, by paying homage to the natural environment of Rajasthan, makes a vital contribution to the Indian alternative music scene. 'Travellers' deeply inhales the landscape, stories, flora and fauna of this rich desert state, and exhales soul-searing songs of travel, love and longing.

    Listening to the Land

    The seventh track on this album - the one which gives the collective their name - is called 'Banwasi,' meaning 'forest dwellers'. The words of the song were written by the great 16th-century poet saint Tulsidas, who tells us of Lord Rama's banishment to the forest for a fourteen-year exile. Jason Singh incorporates binaural (immersive audio) and re-pitched field recordings of birdsong, transporting the listener to an ancient mythical forest. This song, and the title of the album are afforded particular poignancy given the rural background of its artists, and their precarious position as India races towards urbanisation.

    The album, recorded on location at Anokhi Farm in Jaipur, Rajasthan with additional recordings made in London, is threaded through with references to the natural environment, making the landscape of Rajasthan the crucial seventh member of the Banwasi Colective. The first track,'Runalayo' opens with murmured conversation and birdsong collected by Singh using binaural microphones, during recording sessions in Anokhi Farm. A multisensory stage is set for an ancient tale sung by Bhutta Khan, in the Sindhi language.

    "The way they play, the whole sound is in tune with nature. That seven-beat cycle in Gypsy - to me, that is absolutely the walk of the camel and of carts piled high, making their way across the desert. Different rhythmic cycles, Manjoor would tell me, it's this or that rhythm of horses' hooves." - Jason Singh

    Singh adds that certain flourishes of the khartals, the castanet-style percussion mastered by Bhungar Khan (given centre stage from 6:30 in'Doonghar Dukham Dhey'), are inspired by the fluttering of a bird's wings. All the songs are based on different raags, the Indian music system of notes and moods, each evoking different seasons, times of day and references to nature.

    "There are peacocks wandering free all over the Anokhi Farm where this record was made, in Rajasthan. John Singh, to whom this album is dedicated, loved his garden at Anokhi, and he loved his peacocks." - Jason Singh

    Peacocks are also the symbol of Lord Krishna, the playful Hindu God so beloved by Mirabai, the 16th-century author of'Prem Diwani'.

    The album is extraordinarily diverse - with references to Sufi poetry, Hindu mythology and Sassi Punnun, one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. Songs are in Hindi, Urdu, Marwari, Sindhi and Saraiki and take the listener on an immersive journey across religions, water and dry arid landscapes, between Bhakti and Sufi, mortal and divine.

    Travellers will be played in public in full for the first time as part of Jason's curation of the Enchanted Forest stage at WOMAD 2023.

    Description

    Limited Edition Pink Vinyl

    Jason Singh produces 'Travellers' by the Banwasi Collective from the desert state of Rajasthan, Northeast India. This album is an ode to earthly and spiritual love, migration and the ever changing landscape and climate of Rajasthan and the world at large.

    Whatever he touches, sound artist and composer Jason Singh brings sensitivity, nuance and soul, and 'Travellers' by the Banwasi Collective is no different. The album embraces multiple genres, faiths and languages, and, by paying homage to the natural environment of Rajasthan, makes a vital contribution to the Indian alternative music scene. 'Travellers' deeply inhales the landscape, stories, flora and fauna of this rich desert state, and exhales soul-searing songs of travel, love and longing.

    Listening to the Land

    The seventh track on this album - the one which gives the collective their name - is called 'Banwasi,' meaning 'forest dwellers'. The words of the song were written by the great 16th-century poet saint Tulsidas, who tells us of Lord Rama's banishment to the forest for a fourteen-year exile. Jason Singh incorporates binaural (immersive audio) and re-pitched field recordings of birdsong, transporting the listener to an ancient mythical forest. This song, and the title of the album are afforded particular poignancy given the rural background of its artists, and their precarious position as India races towards urbanisation.

    The album, recorded on location at Anokhi Farm in Jaipur, Rajasthan with additional recordings made in London, is threaded through with references to the natural environment, making the landscape of Rajasthan the crucial seventh member of the Banwasi Colective. The first track,'Runalayo' opens with murmured conversation and birdsong collected by Singh using binaural microphones, during recording sessions in Anokhi Farm. A multisensory stage is set for an ancient tale sung by Bhutta Khan, in the Sindhi language.

    "The way they play, the whole sound is in tune with nature. That seven-beat cycle in Gypsy - to me, that is absolutely the walk of the camel and of carts piled high, making their way across the desert. Different rhythmic cycles, Manjoor would tell me, it's this or that rhythm of horses' hooves." - Jason Singh

    Singh adds that certain flourishes of the khartals, the castanet-style percussion mastered by Bhungar Khan (given centre stage from 6:30 in'Doonghar Dukham Dhey'), are inspired by the fluttering of a bird's wings. All the songs are based on different raags, the Indian music system of notes and moods, each evoking different seasons, times of day and references to nature.

    "There are peacocks wandering free all over the Anokhi Farm where this record was made, in Rajasthan. John Singh, to whom this album is dedicated, loved his garden at Anokhi, and he loved his peacocks." - Jason Singh

    Peacocks are also the symbol of Lord Krishna, the playful Hindu God so beloved by Mirabai, the 16th-century author of'Prem Diwani'.

    The album is extraordinarily diverse - with references to Sufi poetry, Hindu mythology and Sassi Punnun, one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. Songs are in Hindi, Urdu, Marwari, Sindhi and Saraiki and take the listener on an immersive journey across religions, water and dry arid landscapes, between Bhakti and Sufi, mortal and divine.

    Travellers will be played in public in full for the first time as part of Jason's curation of the Enchanted Forest stage at WOMAD 2023.

    Description

    Whatever he touches - whether that be composing for Sir David Attenborough's Green Planet, creating immersive sound installations at Kew Gardens or vocally recreating birdsong and natural environments - sound artist and composer Jason Singh brings sensitivity, nuance and soul. With diverse collaborations that include George Ezra, Rokia Traore, Sarathy Korwar, Talvin Singh and Shabaka Hutchings, his work is an ongoing exploration of the natural world and music technology. Travellers, with The Banwasi Collective is Singh's latest undertaking; an exciting project from an artist who we've come to expect anything but the ordinary.

    'Travellers' is a collection of 8 tracks recorded and produced by Singh featuring a collective of master musicians and vocalists, most of them from the Manganiyar community of hereditary musicians based in Rajasthan, northeast India. The album embraces multiple genres, faiths and languages and pays homage to the natural environment of Rajasthan. 'Travellers' deeply inhales the landscape, stories, flora and fauna of this rich desert state, and exhales soul-searing songs of travel, love and longing.

    Featuring traditional instruments such as the ancient khartal, morchang, bhapana, dholak kamaicha, harmonium, dhol and dholak, the album focuses on Sufi culture and the significant impact of climate change on that part of the world. 'Travellers' was recorded entirely on location at Anokhi Farm in Jaipur, Rajasthan with additional recordings made in London. It is interwoven with references to the natural environment, making the landscape of Rajasthan the crucial seventh member of the Banwasi Collective.

    All the songs on 'Travellers' are based on different raags, the Indian music system of notes and moods, each evoking different seasons, times of day and references to nature. It is extraordinarily diverse - with references to Sufi poetry, Hindu mythology and Sassi Punnun, one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. Songs are in Hindi, Urdu, Marwari, Sindhi and Saraiki and take the listener on an immersive journey across religions, water and dry arid landscapes, between Bhakti and Sufi, mortal and divine.

  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. Runalayo
      • 2. Prem Diwani
      • 3. Gypsy
      • 4. Memories of You

      Side 2

      • 1. Doonghar Dukham Dhey
      • 2. Pir Jalani
      • 3. Banwasi
      • 4. Maru

    Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. Runalayo
      • 2. Prem Diwani
      • 3. Gypsy
      • 4. Memories of You

      Side 2

      • 1. Doonghar Dukham Dhey
      • 2. Pir Jalani
      • 3. Banwasi
      • 4. Maru

    Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. Runalayo
      • 2. Prem Diwani
      • 3. Gypsy
      • 4. Memories of You
      • 5. Doonghar Dukham Dhey
      • 6. Pir Jalani
      • 7. Banwasi
      • 8. Maru