| But with increasing amounts of commercial film and popular music crowding our senses and spaces, it becomes all the more difficult for fans to acquaint themselves with indigenous musical art forms that do not enjoy the same kind of visibility. |
| And so when a production like the Laya Project comes into town, it's only expected that music fans will embrace it wholeheartedly. Not only because it showcases the combined talents of 23 folk and contemporary musicians (an enormous entourage by any standard) but also because it's a peek into a world rarely put on display. |
| Earth Sync Records, a world music label that focuses on folk and traditional music from across the globe, put together The Laya Project, a brave effort to say the least. Based in Chennai and started by writer Sonya Mazumdar and Israeli sound engineer Yotam Agam, The Laya Project is Earth Sync's maiden venture. |
| Its history dates back to 2005 when they began working with traditional musicians from the coastal areas of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Myanmar who had all been affected by the tsunami in 2004. Aside from touring the project, they have also released an album with the music that they recorded with these artistes and have also released a documentary film of their journey. |
| Bodhi Music is another label worth mentioning. Founded in 1996 by musician and producer Paul Jacob, the label is a platform for indigenous artistes from around the world to converge and collaborate, and over the last 10 years it has devoted itself to promoting traditional musical forms. |
| Brahma, Funky Bodhi Safar and Oikyotaan are just a few of the successful projects that Bodhi Music has undertaken. It has also been actively involved in recording with various traditional artistes and now has an archive of songs and albums that they plan to release within the year. |
| Ask Ram Sampath, the music producer from Mumbai, about indigenous music in India and he will speak to you at length about his exciting journey whilst creating the music for the 2002 film Let's Talk. The music for the soundtrack was to be based on the Thumri song form and so Sampath began his research at the NCPA's music archives in Mumbai. |
| From there, his journey took him to places like Lucknow and Benares, where he knocked on the door of Zarina Begum, the last of the courtesan singers, and recorded her vocals for the album. |
| He also recorded the voice of legendary Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam who sang for him in the Devdasi tradition: a form of music that, given its social restrictions, has never been allowed to be performed to the public. |
| Working with numerous unknown but brilliant musicians for the album, Sampath gave the album his own modern-day electronic arrangement without losing any of the essence of the artistes he met through his journeys. A major part of the music that he recorded was not used for the film and he is now in talks with labels to release it. |
| Driven by the belief that there's an enormous amount of Indian music that is highly underrepresented, Underscore Records functions as more than a label through which artistes can release their music. Working with musicians, authors and music academics across the board, the label has now made available an entire catalogue of albums and other material on Indian music across genres and traditions. |
| Swimming against the mainstream and trying to promote something you believe in is more often than not an uphill struggle. But it is due to the continuing persistence and efforts of the individuals and organisations mentioned here and so many others that we have been able to reclaim musical traditions that might otherwise have been lost. |
| For more information visit: http://www.earthsync.com http://www.bodhimusic.com http://www.ramsampath.net/letstalk http://www.underscorerecords.com |
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