Bickram, Greg to come out with a new album

Groove connects the universe irrespective of cultural backgrounds, feel drummer Greg Ellis and percussionist Bickram Ghosh, soon to come out with their new album.

Ace drummer and percussionist Greg Ellis, who has worked with composers Ben Watkins and Tyler Bates for "The Matrix: Reloaded" and "The Matrix: Revolutions", "Fight Club" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" collaborated with tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh for their project, Terra Groove, and will soon be out with their album, "Dragonfly". Although the duo had wanted to do a project together for almost 10 years, it was only a year back that they finally started work on the album. Says Greg, "We had spoken about the idea of having two drummers from two opposite sides of the world creating a new sound based on the foundation of deep organic groove yet melodically and compositionally intriguing. We finally started working on it in February 2010. We composed six songs in the first five days!"

Greg goes on to say that the compositions of the album has really opened their ideas on what world music truly is. There are elements of Indian classical, folk, African, electronica, tribal and rock. "The influence of styles has coalesced into quite a distinct sound of its own. It is a beautiful collaboration of sounds and styles from around the world," says Bickram. Greg's Indian wife, Aparna, has, in fact, called it ceremonial music which Greg feels is a perfect description for it.

Indian musicians who have worked on the album include Sahaj Ma, Ambarish Das, Jojo, Indrani Mukherjee, Ronita De and Gautam Das Baul on the vocals and Sarwar Hussain on the sarangi. Foreign musicians like singer Chiwoniso Maraire from Zimbabwe, Oud player Dimitris Mahlis from Greece, guitar player Giuliano Modarelli from Italy and bass player Dan Lutz from America have also come together. More musicians are also scheduled to play for Terra Groove.

But what inspired the duo to come up with groove? "We all know the adage of music being the universal language but from all of the collaborations I've done with musicians from so many different cultures, I've found that the true universal language is groove," says Greg. "Melody must have an agreed mode or key, lyrics must have a language, even rhythm has a certain protocol of tradition... but groove is the part of any music that we can connect to regardless of our cultural background," agrees Bickram. When asked how it was working with Greg, he says, "True collaborations have to be open and both people involved must come out feeling enriched. Greg's incredible honesty to rhythm and drumming has inspired me tremendously. I've always liked to dabble in other percussion instruments. Greg's mastery over frame drums has specifically opened up new vistas of rhythm for me."

However, what has amazed both the musicians is the cultural amalgamation that took place when different kinds of sounds came together. "It was incredible when Gautam Das Baul came together with Chiwoniso Maraire, the female singer from Zimbabwe — two completely disconnected cultures and languages, yet when you hear them, it sounds like they come from the same place. Too often music is held hostage by its responsibility of being a cultural ambassador of sorts. I feel this limits the deeper ability and purpose of music to connect us in ways beyond political or cultural understanding," says Greg. "The last night in the city is something I'll never forget. As we were listening to the rough mixes of the album, I truly felt like a citizen of the world. We both knew that it was time for the world to hear this music, it was a very powerful moment for me," remembers Greg.

The album is slated to release in the summer of 2011.

This article first appeared HERE.

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