Kej’s Grammy shows reach of Indian music

Afew hours after winning his third Grammy, composer Ricky Kej posted a photograph on social media with the caption, “This is how my guru, older brother and dear friend Stewart Copeland and I celebrated our win. An Indian meal in Los Angeles… just the two of us.” The image couldn’t have been more symbolic. This was the second Grammy the duo received for their collaborative effort, Divine Tides, which has an Indian sound, and ambient effects fused with the global percussion of Copeland. Last year, they bagged the Best New Age Album award for original recording. This year, they got the Best Immersive Audio Album for a new version created in the Sony 360 Reality Audio format. That he won in a category on immersive audio, the new name for surround sound (audio engineer Eric Schilling and mix producer Herbert Waltl played critical roles), underlines that Indian musicians are up there with the best in the world when it comes to sound technology, and boosts tradition-inspired Indian music on the global scene.

Kej won his first Grammy in 2015 for Winds of Samsara, his collaboration with South African composer and flautist Wouter Kellerman. Like Divine Tides, it was in the Best New Age Album category. But as Kej told this writer a few weeks ago, those earlier awards were for a specific genre, and thus were judged on the type of music, unlike this time’s win in a purely technical category.

Listeners and music marketers sometimes confuse New Age music with smooth jazz, lounge, chill-out or ambient music, and even some relaxing types of World Music, but these are different. Though there is no standard definition, New Age is aimed at creating a feeling of relaxation and meditation, useful for stress management in a time-poor world. It may be rooted in different genres and geographical regions, but is more recognised by the ambient effect it creates than the specific sounds used. Instruments may be both acoustic, such as piano and flutes, or region-based and traditional, such as the sitar and dulcimer. Or they may be entirely electronic — such as synthesisers and drum machines. Vocals, when used, are often in the form of chants.

Kej took to music while studying at Bengaluru’s Bishop Cotton School. He later studied dentistry, but the aim was to get into music full-time. As the grandson of film actor and cyclist

Janaki Das, he had an artistic connection. He began as keyboardist of the progressive rock band Angel Dust, but eventually set up his studio, composing jingles, Kannada songs and thematic albums.

Released in 2014, Winds of Samsara was a unique blend of Indian and South African sounds, laced with global elements. The track Mahatma, co-composed by Prakash Sontakke, was dedicated to Gandhi, and Madiba was a tribute to Nelson Mandela. The following year, Kej released Shanti Samsara to promote environmental consciousness. “My music has specific themes. While I stick to Indian roots, I try and create music for children, environment preservation and spiritual upliftment,” he says. That perhaps explains why his sound works so well among western audiences.

One of Kej’s favourite projects is the soundtrack of the 2019 documentary Wild Karnataka. He began working on Divine Tides during the lockdown. Having worked with Copeland earlier he invited him to be part of the project. “It was a dream come true, to work closely with my childhood idol. Sometimes you just have to ask for it, and you get it,” he says. The rewards are surely coming in.

Narendra Kusnur is a journalist and music critic. The views expressed are personal

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