Grammy-nominated musician Chandrika Krishnanmurthy Tandon has come up her third album 'Soul March' which is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's Salt march of 1930. The album,which was released at the Global Centre here yesterday,reinterprets 'Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram' sung by the marchers 80 years ago during the non-violent protests challenging the British monopoly on salt in the Colonial India. Chandrika has re-imagined 'Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram' in different musical traditions including Brazilian bossa nova and Chinese rhythms. "The story of Salt March is replayed in different parts of the globe inspiring leaders,building movements big and small. Every one of us is on a quest seeking freedom. Soul March is a tribute to all these journeys," says Chandrika. On nine tracks,Chandrika's limpid,serene voice with Indian classical inflections re-envisions Mahatma's beloved melody with new ragas and rhythms. Over 75 musicians came together to record the album in the US and India combining ancient traditional instruments like the rhumba,calypso,ektara,dugdugi and esraj with saxophone,banjo and piano to transcend musical boundaries. Her previous album 'Soul Call' topped world music charts and was nominated for a 2011 Grammy. She has performed at Lincoln Center,Olympia Stadium in Berlin,St John the Divine and other venues worldwide. All of her three albums are produced under Soul Chants Music,a not-for-profit label. Though she did not win Grammy for 'Soul Call',the banjo player Bela Fleck got the Grammy in the best contemporary world music album category that year. Chandrika is the founder of her own financial firm Tandon Capital Associates in Manhattan - serves on the Board of Trustees of New York University,Board of Overseas at NYU Stern School of Business,Dean's Council at NYU Wagner School of Public Service,President's Council on International Activities at Yale University and is a humanitarian. "I am not looking for fame. I am not looking for fortune. I have purity of purpose," she says. Chandrika's purpose - to share her modern,multicultural take on Indian music with global audiences has often taken a backseat because of her professional career. The former Mckinsey partner,who started her company in 1992,says that early in her career she struggled to squeeze vocal training and practices into her regimen of international business trips,family duties and non-profit and educational board obligations. When her daughter was an infant,Chandrika used to drive two hours on Saturday mornings each way to train with a master who was a professor of ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University leaving at 4 am to take a two-hour lesson at 6 am and get back before her child awoke. She renewed her commitment to music about 12 years ago. "I had an epiphany. You have one life and you have to create more balance." She still has to fit practice lessons between business obligations,but now when she was in India,she persuaded a couple of masters to travel with her and teach her between her engagements in New York. Chandrika grew up in Chennai,the oldest of the three children. Middle child Indra Nooyi is the CEO of PepsiCo and the No 2 on Fortune Magazine's Most Powerful Women list and the younger is Nandu. In her musical youth,Chandrika played guitar in all-female rock band. While Chandrika's strategy and restructuring work has not influenced her music,her music sometimes bleeds into professional life. "The happiest moments of my life are tied to music. Sometimes my clients will say to me are you humming?" (This image was posted on Facebook by Chandrika Tandon)
