My wife and I spent nearly a year in India while I was studying and teaching on a Fulbright Grant. We spent most of our time in Tamil Nadu, a coastal state in the south east. Described as having only three seasons - hot, hotter and hottest - my wife and I courageously embraced our new environment, community, and culture with a mix of bewilderment, amusement, frustration and amazement.

We met many gracious and kind Tamilians, eager to host us and share with us the gems of their home state. My wife’s french name “Camille” was recognizable as Tamil Nadu is home to Pondicherry, a former French territory in the southern part of the state with an active French-speaking population. Her name though was given an adorable and affectionate local treatment, most often sounding as “Camilly” or “Camilla.” I was often asked, “How is Camilla?” whenever speaking with friends and teachers native to Tamil Nadu. It always made me smile when hearing this new approach to my wife’s beautiful name.

Camilla is a fond reminder of our time in India, of the generous spir

Camilla

My wife bravely boarded a train in Chennai, that would eventually make its way to the deserts of Rajasthan 30 hours later, just two months into our stay in India. My grandfather had been in the Indian railways, retiring as member of the railway board, and I told her, “Don’t worry, Abba will be watching you.” Fortunately she made the trip in one piece, accompanied by a new friend, a strong artist and musician, Mana, who made sure she avoided suspect snacks, sipped only the finest chai and maintained her sanity and composure over two nights in her air conditioned sleeper bunk.

Traveling by train in India is spellbinding as you’re in a fixed, single car for the trip, but outside everything around you is changing. The landscape, the language, the calls from temples; the color of the earth, the style of the saris, the spices in the thali; the scripts on the signs, the politicians on the billboards, the movie stars on the facades. All of this morphs and transforms all around you, but your train car, blue, slightly rusting, creaking with the turns of the tracks, remains unchanged. 

To Jodhpur plays with this idea, the juxtaposition of a singular, fixed element against the backdrop of a constantly shifting landscape.

To Jodhpur

My family in India hails from Mangalore, a sleepy coastal town in the southern state of Karnataka. There was a family reunion of sorts there during Christmas and as I walked across the deep orange earth leading to the Pinto ancestral home, the meditative, droning riff of Karnataka emerged in my head. The piece is inspired by the Carnatic Raga Sree, which also appears under the same name in Hindustani music, but with a different collection of pitches.

In Mangalore everything slows down. Palm trees, the ocean breeze and the mild revolutions from the ceiling fans put you in a space that starkly contrasts the bright lights, raw growth and bursting energy found in Karnataka’s most famous city, Bangalore. Portuguese villas are now encroached upon by apartment high rises, signalling an end of simpler times, but Mangalore still has pockets of open space, farm land and fields and the stretches of the ore-laden earth that make it unmistakable from overhead when approaching the local airport. 

The bedrock of the Karnataka is its looping bass line. It creates a platform to explore the motifs and maneuvers of Sree. Straying from the core pitch set immediately creates tension, raises drama and invites a release which is powerfully achieved when the returning to the ostinato. Mangalore is like that for me. It’s the familiar, safe, gentle, mild, comforting home for me in India, away from all the chaos, movement and activity.

Karnataka

Live performance of my composition Deep Breath, based on raag Marva, at my CalArts MFA senior recital from Feb 2009. Featuring Aashish Khan on sarode, Javad Butah on tabla, Vinny Golia on soprano sax, Carter Wallace on bass, Morgan Fitch on trombone, Chris Votek on cello and myself on guitar. 

Deep Breath

Live performance of my composition One Year later, based on raag Asavari, at my Calarts MFA senior recital from Feb 2009. Featuring Aashish Khan on sarode, Vinny Golia on soprano sax, Javad Butah on tabla, Morgan Price on trombone, Chris Votek on cello and myself on guitar. 

One Year Later

From the All India Permit EP release tour. "Do it Now" live at the Blue Whale in LA.
Featuring:
Jon Armstrong - Tenor
Andrew Munsey - Drums
Alex Pinto - Guitar/Comp
Dave Tranchina - Bass

Live At Blue Whale - Do It Now

From the All India Permit EP release tour. "Camilla" live at the Blue Whale in LA.
Featuring:
Jon Armstrong - Tenor
Andrew Munsey - Drums
Alex Pinto - Guitar/Comp
Dave Tranchina - Bass

Live At Blue Whale - Camilla

From the All India Permit EP release tour. "To Jodhpur" live at the Blue Whale in LA.
Featuring:
Jon Armstrong - Tenor
Andrew Munsey - Drums
Alex Pinto - Guitar/Comp
Dave Tranchina - Bass

Live At Blue Whale - To Jodhpur

From the All India Permit EP release tour. "Karnataka" live at the Blue Whale in LA.
Featuring:
Jon Armstrong - Tenor
Andrew Munsey - Drums
Alex Pinto - Guitar/Comp
Dave Tranchina - Bass

Live At Blue Whale - Karnataka

"Parkside" live at the Blue Whale in LA.

Jon Armstrong - Tenor
Andrew Munsey - Drums
Alex Pinto - Guitar
Dave Tranchina - Bass

Live At Blue Whale - Parkside

Recorded by Guy Staley at Gossard Studios
Mixed by Andrew Munsey
Mastered by Rick Fisher at RFI Mastering 

Shaun Lowecki drums
Carmen Rothwell bass

Photos by Peter Hilgendorf
Artwork by Sophia Burke 

Unconditional

Recorded by Guy Staley at Gossard Studios.
Mixed by Andrew Munsey.
Mastered by Rick Fisher at RFI Mastering.

Shaun Lowecki - drums
Carmen Rothwell - bass

Photos by Peter Hilgendorf
Artwork by Sophia Burke

alex pinto

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