Purbayan Chatterjee and Mark Lettieri - "9,000 Miles"
Photo by Stephanie Lumas
Next month sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee and producer Mark Lettieri release a collaborative album, and the duo have a new single out from that album. "9,000 Miles" is the distance between Chatterjee's home in Mumbai and Lettieri's in Fort Worth, TX, and it's one of the more interesting singles we've heard in a while. It obviously features sitar, but that instrument is mixed with a beat that's near drum and bass along with some straightforward rock guitar solos. The song melds both artists' homes together into one sound. Both worlds keep their own unique sound, but they blend into one perfectly. It's traditional Indian, it's dance, and it's rock, all creating a killer song.
Purbayan Chatterjee says of the new song:
“‘9000 Miles’ speaks to the literal and emotional distance between my home in Mumbai and Mark’s home in Fort Worth,” Chatterjee explains. “The piece begins with a simple riff — an idea that arrived almost innocently. But that riff slowly rises and expands, metaphorically covering the 9,000 miles between us. As the composition develops, it moves into jazz-funk territory, where Mark’s deep groove language meets my Indian syncopations and Carnatic-inspired rhythmic thought. It is not just about geography — it is about convergence.”
You can watch the video for "9,000 Miles" below. Feathered Creatures is due out June 5, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Purbayan Chatterbee, follow the artist on Instagram and Facebook. You can find Mark Lettieri's website here.
