A dialogue of three musical streams
Triveni is in the best traditions of crossover music that transcends borders of classical lineage and grammar.
Chandrika Krishnamoorthy Tandon, despite early schooling in music, came into the limelight as a musician rather late. That’s only because the Chennai-born American musician was carving out her niche as a businessperson — she was the first Indian American woman partner at McKinsey, the global consultancy firm. Triveni, the album that has fetched her a Grammy for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album, is a collaborative effort with South African flautist Wouter Kellerman and Japanese-origin cellist Eru Matsumoto. This is the first Grammy for 71-year-old Tandon. Triveni, a seven-track album, offers an elevating yet calming soundscape built around Eru’s cello notes punctuated by Kellerman’s flute and Tandon’s soaring voice that recites “shanthi mantras” from Taittiriya, Isavasya, and Brihadaranyaka upanishads. Celebrated verses from the eastern philosophical tradition that speak about the non-duality of the being and the material world and pray for the well-being of the whole collective embellish the cello and flute drawing inspiration from the western classical tradition.

Triveni is in the best traditions of crossover music that transcends borders of classical lineage and grammar. The Recording Academy (which gives the Grammys), of course, has recognised this world music, as the genre is popularly called, by showering awards on legends such as Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain. Since the time the sitar maestro introduced the Hindustani musical tradition to America by playing at Woodstock in 1969, or the Beatles dabbled with transcendental meditation in Rishikesh the previous year, Indian classical music traditions have become a source for creative journeys among western musicians. Teachers such as the sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan have further deepened the resonance of Indian sounds in the West; so much so that a sitar, sarod or table today does not stand apart in an ensemble of piano, cello or violins. Indic chants and swaras, where sound and meaning exist in a non-dual manner, make a perfect match in this mix. Triveni exemplifies the possibilities in such musical dialogues.