Sarathy Korwar & UPAJ Collective - Night Dreamer Direct-to-disc Sessions - 2 x Vinyl LPs

2 x LPs

On their Night Dreamer debut, the sensational drummer, percussionist and musical artist Sarathy Korwar and his allstar 'UPAJ Collective' gain brand new ground in their mission to rebalance spiritual jazz with authentic Indian classical music. 'UPAJ' means 'to improvise' in Hindi, and recording direct-to-disc at Artone Studios with almost no preconceived directions, they truly capture the 'spirit of spontaneous improvisation', as Sarathy puts it, like never before. Fluent on both tabla & drums, Korwar has firmly established himself on the UK jazz scene & far beyond, playing with the likes of Shabaka Hutchings & Hieroglyphic Being. Winning a Steve Reid Foundation award and most recently winning an AIM award for best independent album for the album 'More Arriving'. He released a remarkable debut, 'Day to Day', on Ninja Tune in 2016, blending the forgotten music of the marginalised Sidi community with jazz and electronics. His second studio album, 'More Arriving' for Leaf last year, addressed Indian identity in Britain and incorporated spoken word. Meanwhile, Sarathy established a residency at the Jazz Cafe with the UPAJ Collective, leading to an acclaimed show at Church of Sound, aiming to correct the historical imbalance between jazz and Indian classical.

Sarathy Korwar 2020

"Recording in one take, direct-to-disc is a unique scenario to be in. I feel very blessed to be presented this opportunity. I decided very early on that in order to make the best use of this scenario, the music had to be completely improvised and spontaneous. That is the only true way to record within the limitations of one take. No regrets, no mistakes, no fear and no judgement. These were the ideals. In a way, this was about creating a utopian vision of a world I would like to live in. A microcosm of the ideals that I would like to live by, in the recording studio. The vision of going into the studio with this in mind, was more important than the resulting music we created. Process over product.

Before the session we did some collective breathing exercises that I have learnt from my mother (who is a pranayama practitioner/teacher) and Wim Hof. I believe this helps centre the focus of the group and balances the mind, making it most receptive to new sounds and inspiration.

The song So said Said is a tribute to Edward Said. Intimate Enemy, a tip of the hat to the book of the same name by Ashis Nandy (Intimate Enemy: Loss and recovery of self under colonialism). A cover of Flight IC408 by State Of Bengal is on Side B, as I am a massive fan of the band. Elephant Hangover is the imagery that the tune conjures for me personally on listening to it. A beautiful remix by the brilliant Osunlade of So said Said is on side D.

Thank you to the gifted musicians - Al, Tamar, Achuthan and Giuliano for trusting and letting go. I am lucky to spend time with you."  

Sarathy Korwar - Drums
Tamar Osborn - Saxophone
Achuthan Sripathamanathan - Violin
Giuliano Modarelli – Guitar
Alistair MacSween – Keys