Sitting in a salsa club a few yearsago, I noticed how many of the people thatsat around the perimeter of the dance floorlooked upon the six dancing couples with aweand envy. I felt that an enormous sense of offear, trepidation and embarrassment was preventing them from 'just gettingup and dancing'. In my mind, I realised how different this was to a bhangraclub or Punjabi wedding, where uncles, aunties, teenagers and children all gotonto the dance floor and shook their bodies to the bhangra beat. ‘Isn't danceabout expressive freedom anyway?’ I asked myself.

As artistic director of spnm, one of my mottos is ‘music should move thehead, heart and hips!’ and with this in mind, I thought that a project bringingtogether the two worlds of bhangra and Latin music was required. I hadbumped into salsa expert Alex Wilson a few years earlier and he was delighted to accept my invitation to be involved in Bhangra Latina.

The programme includes brand new compositions by four composers, plusLatin arrangements of a few of my own bhangra songs that I produced for thewell known singer, Sangeeta. I am delighted that she has agreed to performthese songs for us. In addition, the Bhangra Latina band comprises some ofthe musicians I’ve most enjoyed working with over the years.

Sit back and enjoy – I dare you to try!

KULJIT BHAMRAspnm artistic director

For more about spnm’s series curated byKuljit Bhamra, see www.spnm.org.uk

Photo:Ammy Phul

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”

Bhangra Latina is produced by spnm – promoting new music as part of its series curated by Kuljit Bhamraspnm – promoting new music is a unique meeting point for composers,performers and audiences of new music. In particular spnm is committed tofinding the best of the next generation of composers and has launched thecareers of many of the UK's leading composers. We run a nationwideprogramme of new music events, professional development schemes forcomposers, an education programme and information services for the public.More information, including details of how to become a member of spnm, isavailable from www.spnm.org.uk.

And spnm is currently in the process of changing, joining with the BritishMusic Information Centre, Contemporary Music Network and Sonic ArtsNetwork to create a brand new organisation, Sound and Music. Seewww.soundandmusic.org to find out more…

spnm supportersspnm is grateful to ACE Grants for the Arts and the Columbia Foundationwhose support has helped us to make Bhangra Latina happen. We would also like to thank Arts Council England, London; the HolstFoundation; PRS Foundation; RVW Trust; Britten-Pears Foundation; EsméeFairbairn Foundation; The Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and spnm’s Patrons andCorporate Members.

Find out about new music in the UK – join our free e-listFor information on forthcoming events, join up to our FREE e-list, by visiting www.soundandmusic.org.

The band learning how to play the

tabla

spnm artistic director Kuljit Bhamra invited four composers to create music collaboratively with a hybrid band. Here are somemoments captured from the 6-month collaborative process...Photos by Victoria Speyer

It has been a real challenge to

cater for each of the band

members’ individual skills. Some

are fluent in the western classical

system, the Latin percussionists

are used to working from charts,

and Shahid and Kuljit prefer verbal

instructions. And we all speak dif-

ferent languages! But what united

all their approaches was musician-

ship, excellent ears and the ability

to pick up new material quickly.

Cevanne Horrocks-

Hopayian, composer

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“

”

Players like myself have spent years refining our ability

to ‘groove’, a mesmeric state where we appear to repeat

the same patterns, while actually carrying on a bubbling and

ever-changing dialogue. In the interpretation of the new

compositions for this project we drew on the same skillsbut with

shifts in priorities. So for example where we would normally play 64

or 128 bars of ‘groove’, we’re now asked to play 6-and-a-half bars

before moving on to something different in another time signature,

and to do things on our instruments we’ve never tried before...!

Alex Wilson, pianist

Emeris Solis, congas

“ ”

A day in Kuljit Bhamra’s recording

studio in Southall

Kuljit Bhamra, tabla

Main image: Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian,

composer/singer

ProgrammeKuljit Bhamra tabla, dhol, tom, cymbals, snare, keyboards, harmoniumAlex Wilson piano, Rhodes & Hammond keyboardsShahid Abbas Khan vocalsDudley Phillips acoustic bassShanti Paul Jayasinha trumpet, flugelhorn, hand percussionDavide Giovannini drum kit, timbale, vocalsEmeris Solis congasDilraj Bhamra dholCevanne Horrocks-Hopayian vocalsSangeeta vocals

William Strode sound engineer

Dancers: Alessia Bonacci, Gurvinder Pal SinghMandy Bhamra, Hanisha Maru, Vasda Punjab Bhangra Dancers

Project Mentor: Alwynne Pritchard

The programme features music created by the band and includesfour pieces by composers selected from an spnm call:

Nico Bentley When Einstein Came to TownPaul Buckley InvitationChris Gander Sangita Bhairanova Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian Dark Garden

There will be an interval of 20 minutes. The programmeorder will be announced.

Buy the Bhangra Latina album!The Bhangra Latina album is now available on the Keda Records label.See www.keda.co.uk.

About the MusicWhen Einstein Came to Town Nico BentleyI have attempted to unify the styles of Latin and Bhangra through a genre thathas influenced them both; House. I have fused the rhythms of the two tradi-tions to create a new series of poly-rhythms while hopefully avoiding any super-ficial ‘fusion’ of the two musical worlds. The harmony is from Indian culture,the raga Sarasvati is used and developed during the piece. However this isabout groove. Much of the piece is interpretive, set around figures, open pas-sages and graphics allowing the musicians the freedom to achieve this. Finally,(the reason for the mention of Einstein) time is a rather baffling concept andmost importantly is not fixed. There are moments where I have tried to allowthe musicians to break away from the rigidness of tempo and work independ-ently of time and each other. Remember chaos is a beautiful thing. (NB)

Invitation Paul Buckley This piece invites you to embrace the verve and exhilaration of Salsa andBhangra Beat – two styles that have roots in folk music from the West andEast but have grown up in cosmopolitan cities. Invitation and the new sound of Bhangra Latina offers you a chance to dance, but if you listen beyond the groove you might also hear influences from 20th-century masters, Elliott Carter and Steve Reich. (PB)

Sangita Bhairanova Chris Gander This work is based melodically on the North Indian Raga Bhairavi. Differentfragments of Bhairavi are used through the work in both of its moods – Indianand Latin. Rhythmically, the work uses the Indian tals of Kerwa and Tin Tal,mixed with Samba call and Samba-influenced rhythms. As with both NorthIndian and Latin music there is a lot of freedom for the players to improviseon the Bhairavi themes and on the Indian and Latin rhythms. The vocal line isagain based on Bhairavi and the vocalist sings two short songs within thework using this raga. (CG)

Dark Garden Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian The world is as a cage! So claims Sayat Nova, the Armenian troubadour ofcenturies past. He wandered across cultures, from Europe to Asia, languageto language. In this modern setting, his lament is given a new voice.Dark Garden is a desperate song. It attempts to dance and sing throughsorrow, weaving together moves and words from Indian, Latin and Armeniancultures. An intense period of careful collaboration has brought these stylesand performers together. I am so grateful to spnm’s organisation, and thecreative spark of Kuljit, Alex, and the dancers, and especially to the fineexpertise of the band. A more extensive version of Dark Garden is available onthe Bhangra Latina album, for those who wish to hear the full story.The upbeat grooves whirl through dark sentiments, perhaps banishing them.After all, Sayat Nova’s words can also mean ‘the world is as a window’ - butonly when you read it, like Dark Garden, across cultures. (CH-H)

About the people involved

Left to right: Alex Wilson, Paul Buckley,Shahid Abbas, Davide Mantovani, Kuljit Bhamra, Davide Giovannini,

Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian, Shanti Paul Jayasinha, Emeris Solis,

Nico Bentley, Chris Ganderphoto: Victoria Speyer

PERFORMERSKuljit Bhamra Composer, producer, tabla player and pioneer of the Bhangra phenomenon, Kuljit Bhamrahas recorded over 2,000 songs to date and worked on film scores for over 15 years,producing soundtracks for award winning films Bhaji on the Beach, Bend it like Beckham,Masala Beans and playing percussion on the soundtracks for The Four Feathers, A LittlePrincess, Wings of a Dove and The Guru. He worked on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s massivehit musical Bombay Dreams as on-stage percussionist. He also acted as Indian MusicConsultant for the musical adaptation of M M Kayes’ The Far Pavilions.www.kuljitbhamra.com

Alex Wilson Alex Wilson has an established track record in his career as a composer, arrangerand director of cross-cultural collaborations. As a pianist, Alex has performed with awhole host of artists in nearly 50 countries, including Courtney Pine, AdalbertoSantiago and Hugh Masakela and is the recipient of a BBC Jazz Award in the RisingStar category. Alex also composes for commercial outlets, having written a theme tunefor a Channel 4 series last year and also having his compositions placed inprogrammes such as 24, DIY SOS and My Family. www.alexwilson.net

Shahid Abbas KhanShahid comes from a family of renowned tabla players and classical singers. Hestarted singing from the age of three and from the age of ten started receivinglessons from Pandit Vishwa Prakash and later from Rauf Mehndi; two teachers towhom he remains eternally grateful.

Dudley Phillips A self-taught player on both electric and double bass, he is also a composer andsongwriter. He toured the world with soul band Womack and Womack, Bill Withersand Mica Paris before co-founding the award-winning jazz crossover band PerfectHouseplants in the nineties. His solo album Life Without Trousers was released in2006. Recently he has co-written with Robert Wyatt for Brazilian singer MonicaVasconcelos’ acclaimed album HIH.

Shanti Paul Jayasinha Paul works in many world music and jazz contexts. He is a stalwart of the UK Latinand Brazilian scenes, playing with Alex Wilson, Manteca, Mônica Vasconelos, and theGrand Union Orchestra. He has recorded with top folk artist Karen Tweed, klezmerstar Gregori Schechter, appeared with Cuban piano maestro Frank Emilio Flyn at theBarbican, as well as Ruben Gonzales and Cachaito in Cuba and he has released a CDof original music, Round Trip, on the Candid Label. www.myspace.com/shantijazz

Davide Giovannini Davide Giovannini was born in Trieste (Italy). In his hometown he started to play drumsand took lessons with a local teacher before travelling to Cuba on a regular basis.There he studied with some of the greatest drummers of the island, includingChanguito, Calixto Oviedo, Oscarito, Ernesto Simpson, and Irian Lopez. He has alsostudied with Billy Cobham and Giulio Capiozzo, and worked with a variety of bandsplaying many different styles of music. Having moved to London in 1991, he has sinceplayed on Paul McCartney’s Hope of Deliverence, Bjorks’s Isobel, Lisa Stansfield’s TheLine and Roy Hargrove’s Afrodisia. He is currently touring with Zeep, the new projectfrom Chris Franck and Nina Miranda.

Emeris Solis Emeris Solis was born on Guapi, on the Pacific coast of Colombia, and started playingpercussion when he was 7 years old. He studied at the Institiute of Popular Culture(Cali, Colombia), and is a specialist in Afro-Latin folklore music, especially fromColombia, Venezuela, and Cuba. During the last 20 years, he has played, taught andrecorded with many different bands, including Alex Wilson, Salsa Celtica, Grupo Bahia,Victor Hugo La Banda, Roberto Pla, Bombele Orquesta, and Los Del Caney.www.soliscongaplayer.co.uk

Sangeeta Sangeeta’s most successful album is Flower in The Wind, which reached number onein both Bollywood and British Bhangra Asian music charts. She has recorded playbackfor films Bhaji on the Beach and An Arranged Marriage. She was presented with BestFemale Singer (Asian Music awards) over four successive years from 1993–1996.Sangeeta has recorded several Punjabi/Hindi albums with Kuljit Bhamra’s label KedaRecords over the past decade.

DANCERSAlessia BonacciItalian born, Alessia Bonacci is a professional dancer and actress. She has toured allover Europe with top musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar, Saturday Night Feverand Copacabana, and starred in London in the hit West-End show Bombay Dreams.Alessia has worked with a wide variety of artists, from Kylie Minogue to Emma Bunton.She is a professional salsa dancer and belongs to a group called The Taste of Brazil.She has choreographed for the Move It dance exhibition in London. Later this seasonshe will be appearing in Aida with the English National Opera.

Gurvinder Pal Singh Gurvinder was born and brought up in the Indian state of Punjab, also known as theLand of Five Rivers. Punjab is particularly famous for its Bhangra folk dance and the

nature of the lifestyle people lead there. Gurvinder moved to the UK in 2004 tocontinue his studies. Dancing is in the blood of the people from the Punjab region sothere is no particular need to study it. Children in the Punjab grow up dancing andsinging and wherever in the world they settle they try not to forget their roots.Gurvinder feels proud to represent his culture here in the UK.

COMPOSERSNico Bentley Nico Bentley is a composer/performer based in London, who began his musical lifeplaying in rock bands. His influences include jazz, classical, electro and drum ‘n’ bass.He has experience in production, improvisation, composition and performance. He iscurrently working with Slanjahvah Danza and Company Chameleom and is also writinghis first ballet. www.myspace.com/nicobentleyhatesjazz

Paul Buckley Paul Buckley has a long association with experimental and improvised music, as well ascommunity music at Chat’s Palace, London and the Suffolk School of Samba. Paul hascomposed music for various bands, for professional and amateur groups, and nowenjoys hearing his efforts played by the COMA East soundanauts.

Chris Gander Chris Gander is a composer and performer who takes particular inspiration from themusic of India, Persia, Spain and Latin America. Chris studied sitar, tabla, yoga andIndian philosophy in India and continued his studies at SOAS. He has studied withJonathan Harvey, Michael Finnissy and the Indian composer John Mayer.www.chrisgander.com

Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian A grandchild of Armenian refugees and Lancashire coal and cotton workers CevanneHorrocks-Hopayian grew up on Benjamin Britten’s doorstep in Aldeburgh among closefamily friends including a Paris-based jazz and salsa trumpeter, Scottish fiddlers, Indian,Venezuelan and Cuban doctors. She studied at Cambridge researching the use ofIndian music in Rap and was invited to Jordan by the British Council and Trinity Collegeof Music to work with Arabic music students. www.cevanne.com

Alwynne Pritchard (composer mentor)Alwynne Pritchard teaches composition at Trinity College of Music in London andregularly presents programmes for BBC Radio 3. Over the last decade and a halfAlwynne's music has been performed by leading players and ensembles throughoutEurope and America. She also sings with Bergen/London-based improvisation quintetFAT BATTERY. www.alwynnepritchard.co.uk

Bradford Mela 15.06.2008

Henley Festival 11.07.2008

Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, 21.09.2008

St George’s, Bristol 15.02.2009

The Brewhouse, Taunton 18.02.2009

Soundand Music