MELDING MELODIES
WHEN flautist Wouter Kellerman won a Grammy award last month, he joined the ranks of a very small group of South Africans to have done so, including Miriam Makeba and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Kellerman, along with Indian keyboardist, bassist and composer Ricky Kej, jointly won the award for Best New Age Album for their collaboration called Winds of Samsara.
A gentle, melodic recording which melds both African and Indian influences, it had already hit #1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums chart before picking up the Grammy. Over two years in the making, the album features nearly 120 musicians and was recorded in different locations around the world, from Johannesburg to Melbourne to Bangalore.
It was inspired, says Kellerman, by Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela.
“Ricky and I spoke about the fact that Mahatma Gandhi spent 20 years of his life in South Africa, and that he developed his ideas of peaceful resistance during that time – ideas that Nelson Mandela was very influenced by,” explains Kellerman. “We decided to write a song each for Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela – we wanted to spread their ideals of peace, love and tolerance through music. We really enjoyed creating those two songs, so we carried on working, eventually finishing a whole album.”
The two musicians had initially met online, after Ricky had heard Kellerman’s flute playing and asked him to contribute lines to one of his songs.
“I had been listening to and loving Indian music for a long time and jumped at the opportunity,” says Kellerman. “He sent me an incredibly beautiful track, which I thought was already close to perfect, so I did my best to try and add something that matched the quality of the track. He loved what I added, and that started the ball rolling.”
The song, Heaven is Here, appears on their album, alongside more original compositions as well as a “reworked” Chopin nocturne and even a world music version of the traditional song Greensleeves. Putting the music together was both a cutting edge and a very personal experience.
“Most of the material was recorded in Johannesburg and Bangalore by myself and Ricky,” explains Kellerman. “There was a lot of digital to and fro as we sent files across to each other to add our respective inputs. We met in LA to record over there as well. Then I did some recording in Australia while I was touring there. At the end of the project I went to Bangalore to work with Ricky on the final recordings and we mixed the album together.”
The duo chose musicians they “respected and have known for a long time” to perform on the album, including South African drummer Barry van Zyl and guitarist Mauritz Lotz, the Bangalore Women’s Choir and New York pianist Michael Gallant. “We chose them because we felt that they would make a beautiful contribution,” says Kellerman.
Classically trained on the flute since the age of 10, Kellerman grew up going to classes in Johannesburg and later on, in his 20’s, to master classes with some of the world’s best flute teachers in Europe and the USA every European summer. He performed with many South African orchestras, and has mastered not only the C flute, but also the alto and bass flutes, as well as “variations” like the fife and the bansuri. Around 10 years ago he started to play and compose more world/roots music.
Kellerman explains the change: “I listened to a wide range of music from a young age and have always loved the sounds of the different cultures across the world, so it’s just been a natural and organic shift to move to world/roots and new age music. I suppose what you listen to ends up in your music,” he smiles.
It’s been a remarkably successful shift. He’s won a 2011 SAMA (South African Music Award) for Best Instrumental Album for his CD Two Voices, and a 2014 IMA (Independent Music Award) in the USA for Best World Beat Album for his CD Mzansi. And in 2010 his show Kellerman Colour Live won the 2010 SAMA for Best Jazz/Instrumental/Popular/Classical DVD.
He’s toured extensively, performing in places including Berlin, Shanghai and Sydney, and at sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Grammy Museum. Each tour is different, depending on circumstances.
“I have my South African group of musicians that I love playing with and who I take with me if the budget allows,” says Kellerman.
“If not, I find local people to collaborate with, which can be challenging, but also very exciting, leading to new ways of interpreting the music.”
Bringing the entire Winds of Samsara entourage to South Africa may prove difficult, because it is big in scale, requiring big string sections, choirs and many instrumentalists.
However, Kellerman says he has been including intimate versions of some of the songs in his shows. And then in April this year, Kellerman and Kej will shoot a full-scale DVD of the album at the Mysore Palace in India, where they’ll include a full string section and two choirs. Kellerman admits to being “very excited about it!”
So we can at least get to watch a DVD of the duo – and of course, listen to the album itself. Kellerman describes it proudly: “It’s a very peaceful album, based on spreading good energy. The music is very positive, with many layers – deep, but not dark.”
www.windsofsamsara.com To source other new age CDS: www.wisdomtonourish.com