Grammy-winning musical duo Wouter Kellerman and Ricky Kej will perform at Mysore Palace to recreate Winds of Samsara. They chatted with Karan Bhardwaj about a sequel to their album, solo projects and why Indian flutes score over their Western counterparts
South African award-winning musician Wouter Kellerman has had many close connections with India. Years ago, he had a girlfriend from Kerala and his manager also happens to be of Indian origin. But it was his Grammy-winning collaboration Winds of Samsara with Indian musician Ricky Kej that finally got him here. “I had heard a lot about India and have known of links between India and South Africa. So when I got this opportunity to work with Kej, I immediately grabbed it,” he said, grinning, during our conversation at The leela Palace. Kellerman and Kej were here to perform at the South African Freedom Day celebrations hosted by the South African High Commission. It was their first public performance together. The Winds of Samsara was based on values of love, peace and tolerance that Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela shared. “I discovered that Gandhi spent 20 years in Africa and strengthened the idea of peaceful resistance. Nelson Mandela was influenced by him. So in our first album together, we wanted to celebrate the common ideas of humanity that the two nations shared,” said Kellerman as Kej nodded in agreement.
Now, the musical duo will perform Winds of Samsara live at Mysore Palace for 60 minutes. The concert will be recorded for a commercial DVD. “It will be a spectacular show. We have already begun preparing for it. It will be a four-string orchestra and two choirs,” Kej told us sharing that they are also working on the sequel to their album. “I have already composed a few tracks but we are still working on it. It’s an ambitious project for both of us. We want to take this album forward in a bigger way. It will take another year,” he said.
As a perfect associate, Kej has been guiding Kellerman during his short Indian tours to help him understand culture here better. Ask Kellerman about his Indian exposure, he would call it ‘limited’ but would definitely surprise you with his interest in Indian music, food and culture. He has already seen a few Bollywood films and learnt about Indian classical instruments. “Flute produces intimate and emotional music. It takes you away from all the worldly concerns. I think Indian flautists are world masters in bringing out such music. I have liked Hariprasad Chaurasiya, Pravin Godkhindi and Naveen Kumar. Also, Indian bansuri is more expressive and flexible than its western counterpart. You can slide off fingers through holes in the bansuri and glide between the notes, which is not possible in Western flutes,” he said.
He also shared his fascination for Bollywood music and Indian food. He liked the compositions of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Slumdog Millionaire. He said that Indian male vocalists are way better than Western artistes in expressing emotions. “In Bollywood, male voices are more expressive than the Western world. In West, I prefer listening to female vocalists as male voices are more clinical and disappointing. But here, male singers have great texture,” said Kellerman.
Given a chance, Kellerman would love to collaborate with AR Rahman. In fact, for his next album love language, he tried to recreate Rahman’s tune from Bombay. “He’s my all-time favourite. I’m absolutely crazy about his music. I tried to copy his tune and replaced strings with flute. But I failed miserably,” he said.
Through its 14 tracks, love language explores how different cultures in the world express love through music. For this project, he has worked with many musicians from different countries. The album will have a wide range — from Spanish beats to Greek tango and from Irish music to traditional West African music. He will also be collaborating with Kej for one of the tracks. Kej told us, “After Bombay tune couldn’t work, we created a fresh composition. It’s very orchestral and epic. It has got Indian melody as base. The orchestra section has been played in Hindustani classical style with Western instruments like violin with gamakas and quarter tones.”
Kellerman has been a globetrotter and induces his travel experiences in his music. In fact, he said he was exposed to a wide range of music since childhood. “I grew up listening to Western classical music. My parents were very strict about it. But when my mother would go out for work, our maid would play African music. So as a kid, I was already getting exposed to a variety of music. Somehow that range remained in my conscience. At 10, I studied learning classical flute. Classical sensibilities are very strong in my music,” he said.
His music is often described as a lyrical piece of art, like a mesmerising painting on a canvas. Music critics have admired his music for its healing touch. “Music can communicate much more than words and dialogues. The first flutes were made out of mammoth’s tusks and that was even before people were using language. Instrumental music can convey positive energy, not just message. I try to make music that emanates good energy and positive message and makes difference in a subtle way. By crossing cultural boundaries, we introduce people to other cultures. When you understand other cultures, you become tolerant of them. Cross-culture music fights intolerance,” said Kellerman.
like him, Bengaluru-based Kej is also doing music for charity. His recent album 2 Unite All featuring eminent British musician Peter Gabriel, Kellerman, Stewart Copeland (founding member of Police), Rick Allen (drummer of Def leopard) opened pretty well. “The proceeds are being donated to meet medical emergencies in Gaza conflict,” Kej told us.