For indian music, composer 'isaijnani' Ilayaraja is the god father. The magic of the maestro transcends all the generational boundaries. In this track we try to recreate one of his mesmerising composition with a fresh blend of soulful singing and beautiful rendition of flamenco guitar... 
Featuring - Santhosh Chandran (Flamenco Guitar) and Nithin K (Vocal)

Keladi Kanmani (Acoustic Flamenco Cover) Ft. Santhosh Chandran (Flamenco Guitar) & Nithin K (Vocals)

‘Sur’ represents the ‘spring of melodies' we endeavour to re-create from our collective ‘Virsa' or 'heritage'. This project, we endeavour to connect melodies, cultures and tradition across distances, transcending time, and recreate the golden compositions of our collective musical heritage.
We conceptualised this project as a melodious amalgamation, by wrapping the soulful vocal rendition of Nithin (lead singer) with the pure form of mesmerising flamenco enchantment by Santhosh (flamenco guitarist) with his magical guitar.

A brief history of flamenco tradition - Flamenco music has its humble and pure beginning in the Andalusia region in Spain.....During the late 18th to mid19th centuries, flamenco evolved with a number of unique characteristics which separated it from local folk music and prepared the way to an art form, capable of higher standards of professional performance , leading to pularization of the genre outside Andalusia. The first time flamenco is mentioned in literature is in 1774 in the book Cartas Marruecas by José Cadalso. During this period, according to some authors, there is little news about flamenco except for a few scattered references from travelers. This led traditional flamencologists, like Molina and Mairena, to call the period of 1780 to 1850 as "The Hermetic Period" or the "private stage of flamenco". During the so-called Golden Age of Flamenco, between 1869-1910, flamenco music developed rapidly in music cafés called cafés cantantes, a new type of venue with ticketed public performances. Flamenco was developed here to its definitive form. 
In western music, only the major and minor modes are explicitly named by composers. However, flamenco has resonance in the Phrygian mode, commonly called the "Dorian mode" by flamencologists. Some flamencologists, like Hipólito Rossy or guitarist Manolo Sanlúcar, also consider this flamenco mode as a survival of the old Greek Dorian mode. "Phrygian” is the term most commonly used for referring to this mode in English speaking countries.
Traditionally, flamenco guitarists did not receive any formal training, so they just relied on their ear to find the chords on the guitar, disregarding the rules of Western classical music. This led them to interesting harmonic findings, with unusual unresolved dissonances.

Introduction to our lead guitarist - Santhosh Chandran - Like the meaning of his name, Santhosh Chandran's life was filled with joy from 6 strings which still continues in his life. Santhosh began to understand guitar and the melodious sounds it made at the age of 8. Little Santhosh found it exciting and cherished the excitement and passion for learning further. Santhosh's father was a great inspiration for him. He guided him to the world of Karnatic music. Both his parents supported and understood him very well which molded him to the person he is now. Santhosh joined the band 13AD as the lead guitarist when Mr. Eloy Issac left the band and was able to perform with them in the middle east as well. Santhosh then searched for music and wandered around creating and learning music. During his stay in Muscat, he met with Mr. John Hardie (Jazz pianinst) and an Italian classic guitar player, Mr. Salvatore who mentored him to learn from the world of Jazz. Santhosh found different and versatile music styles in Muscat of which flamenco was the popular one and developed interest and learned it.
Santhosh started a band called Velvetters then with Salha Albusaidy (East African jazz singer) and Mark Gresty (Bass guitarist ). The band performed in Dubai, Lebanon and other middle east countries. Santhosh also associated with Mr. Hratch (French saxophone player) and Mr. Ibrahim Jaber (percussionist from Lebanon). Down Beat Jazz was the trio band which Santhosh joined in 2005 with Sax NIck Foster and Merwyn in Muscat. Along with this, he achieved 8th grade and ATCL Diploma in Classic Guitar from Trinity College of Music, London and began teaching guitar in British School, Harmony institute and Classic Music & Arts institute (Trinity college exam centre). Mr. Gahamme Johns (ABRSM Examiner and Pianist) supported Santhosh very well and helped him to develop his skills. Khalid Sahab and Tripthi chakraborthy taught him what Hindustani music was all about. He was also privileged to play with Ustad Badde Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib, a renowned Hindustani classical vocalist.

Santhosh Chandran's life till now is enriched with experiences and music from different people from different parts of the world. He still tries to learn from everyone whom he creates music with. His music connects the listener to the depth of universal consciousness, where it touches the fathoms of human emotions.

Being an avid enthusiast of multi-cultural experiences,  Santhosh is able to use his understanding of flamenco and western musical influences to find a meeting ground with eastern tunes and enhance the beauty of the musical exchange born of the process.

Our lead vocalist - Nithin K - As a versatile singer, Nithin, with his finest rendition of ragas would touch your emotions like a ‘sufi’ poet. He sings with his soul,  bridging the depths of eastern classical with the contemporary styles of today’s music. Passionate in his mission to perfect the art of music production, Nithin uses his own studio to engineer his tracks.

'Sur-de-Virsa' project team  - Santhosh Chandran (Guitar), Nithin K (Vocal, Arrangement, Rhythm, Audio Mixing, Music Production), K S Anish (Themes, Literature, On-Line Promotion)

Sur de' Virsa

Popular tracks