The appeal of music is not restricted by boundaries, by language, or music genre, and with the Internet, its reach has even furthered. In this democratization of music, where it is the sound that speaks, composer Rushi Vakil of Ahmedabad recently released
Click Kar – a globally influenced Gujarati album, bringing a contemporary touch to Gujarati music and taking the Gujarati language to a global audience.
Vakil brings his musical expertise as an internationally touring artist to give his album a global appeal. The son of tabla guru Pandit Divyang Vakil, Vakil junior has formally trained in tabla under his father and is a self-taught keyboardist. He leads and performs worldwide with percussion ensemble Talavya, has composed the music for Kid Krrish – an animated film part of the Krrish franchise, created the soundtrack for Bhinti Mange – a Marathi film that won the Dadasaheb Phalke award, amongst others.
His latest album Click Kar, released by Crescendo Music and Universal Music Group brings fresh sounds to Gujarati music. The album’s first music video Prarthana crossed over 24,000 views within a week, with viewers in countries Greece, Japan, and Brazil in addition to India, USA, Canada and the UK. More videos will be released on Vakil’s YouTube channel Aaditaal Music Project and expect each video to be a visual delight as they have been creating by rising filmmakers whose work has already gotten national and international notice.
(Above): Natalie Di Luccio.
The universality of the music is also seen through the musicians. Aside from well-known Gujarati artists like RJ Dhvanit, and Aniket Khandekar, musicians from Russia, USA and Greece have played on the album. Three of the singers - Natalie Di Luccio, Shweta Subram, and Bollywood playback singer Javed Ali are not Gujarati, but became a part of the project due to its uniqueness. In “Prarthana,” Natalie Di Luccio sings in Gujarati for the first time, showcasing her western classical training in the opera influenced prayer, while in “Ghar Maru” Dubai-born, Toronto resident Shweta Subram sings about identity and home.
The seven-song album is a reflection of Vakil’s eclectic music taste and his aim to share the beauty of his native language Gujarati with a much wider audience. Each song set to a different musical genre, and features a different singer. The reach of songs in regional Indian languages in no longer restricted to speakers of the language,” explains Vakil. From jazz to trance, Sufi to country, the album presents Gujarati in ways never heard before. With such a diversity of sounds, there is something for everyone in the album, an intentional effort on Vakil’s part in order to change the way Gujarati music is perceived.
Click Kar is available worldwide on iTunes.
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