Singer Kavita Seth, son team up for new album

Aaj rang hai hey maan rang hai riMoray mehboob kay ghar rang hai riSajan milaavra sajan milaavraSajan milaavra moray aangan koAaj rang haiCenturies on these lines from Amir Khusraursquos Aaj Rang Hai continue to resonate with Sufi followers The qawwali mdash one of the most popular ones by the Sufi saint mdash has been adapted numerous times and sung by the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Ghulam Hussain Niazi The latest addition to this list is singer Kavita Seth whose rendition of the qawwali is one of the eight songs in her newly released album titled Trance with Khusrau The album which released on October 30 is produced by the 44yearold singerrsquos son KanishkSinger Kavita Seth with her 18yearold son and music producer Kanishk PicNimesh DaveWe meet Seth and her 18yearold son at their Goregaon residence to know more Dressed in a long skirt and kurta Seth hovers around her son to make sure he looks presentable enough for the interview before settling down for a chat ldquoKhusrau wrote this song when he decided to become Nizamuddin Auliyarsquos disciple This song symbolises my first project with Kanishkrdquo beams the proud motherTrance mixed with SufiFour years ago Kanishk who learnt sound engineering under sound recordist Vikrant Hazare began dabbling in music production Out of habit the budding artiste composed music samples he could work on later One such 10minute sample which Seth fell in love with the moment she heard the loop became a part of the singerrsquos rendition of the classic Aaj Rang Hai ldquoWe recorded the song in one takerdquo recalls KanishkLike the name of the album suggests Trance with Khusrau marries Sufi poetry with trance music ldquoWhile evolving as an artiste I listened to a lot of trance music One fine day my mother and I added some poetry to the music and loved the end product After that we kept composing songs My mother rates pronunciation and lyrical content very highly and taught me how certain words in a song need to be emphasised on Also she taught me the technique of keeping the soul of Sufism intact while mixing in trance musicrdquo explains KanishkSeth on the other hand credits her son with broadening her horizon ldquoBefore I worked with him I only knew Sufi music and considered all other forms of Western music as pure noiserdquo she smilesIt was a gruelling period peppered with light moments For instance Kanishk remembers the time his mother stunned him with her knowledge of electronic music terminologies ldquoWe were listening to a song and mom suddenly said lsquoYe drop bahut achcha hai hamein use karna chahiyersquo This drop is really good We should use it I couldnrsquot believe that she had picked up so soonrdquo laughs the teenagerBound by musicThe album comprises eight songs including two instrumental tracks Apart from Western beats the tracks also include the tunes of Indian instruments such as esraj and bamboo flute ldquoThere are two reasons for doing this Firstly we wanted to maintain the authenticity of Indian music in the album especially when we release it on a global level And secondly Kanishk wanted a common thread to connect all songs and that thread is esraj You can hear the instrument in five songsrdquo says the singer who is a huge fan of singers Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida ParveenApart from being faced with the task of combining two different music genres in the album the pair faced several other challenges ldquoMany people asked us to make changes to the songs Some liked the trance music better some the Sufi lyrics We decided that creativity is subjective and we can only be successful if we follow our heartrdquo she saysSo will we ever see the singer branch out into other genres of music ldquoI am open to all sorts of songs The only condition is that it should connect with my soulrdquo she says And what about future projects with Kanishk ldquoI have so many projects for and with him But he just doesnrsquot have the timerdquo Seth says with a hearty laugh