Sandeep Chowta is only the second Indian to break into the US Billboard charts with A Foreign Affair, his collaborative venture with American band Spyro Gyra. The music composer talks to The Guide about the album and working with the Jazz-fusion legends

It's a collaboration that couldn't be short of a magical sonic alliance. Jazz-fusion legends Spyro Gyra and India's musical maestro Sandeep Chowta have come together on the band's newest album, A Foreign Affair. Chowta has written and co-produced a sublime composition, Khuda on the album. After weeks of ruling international charts (including a debut at #2 on the US Billboard Charts), the album is set for its India release on October 29. The Bollywood music director tells us more about the collaboration.


Grammy Award-winning band Spyro Gyra

What brought about this collabora-tion with Spyro Gyra?
I've been a fan of Spyro Gyra's work since I was in school, back when people were listening to Abba and Boney M! About eight years ago, when I started working on my album Matters of the Heart, I met musicians in Los Angeles and New York, one of whom was Spyro Gyra's keyboardist Tom Schuman, one of my favourite musicians. He performed on a track on my album, and later, so did Jay Beckenstein and another band member. We became friends and stayed in touch. Then, one fine day, Jay asked me to write a song for them. They liked the first track I sent but said, "It's very Spyro. We want something that's very you." Khuda was the second track I sent; they fell in love with it and with Arijit Singh's vocals on it.