Music Artists at Alliance Francasise in Sector 36 Chandigarh. Express Photo Music Artists at Alliance Francasise in Sector 36 Chandigarh. Express Photo

In 2007, disturbed by the cacophony of city life, musician Neel Sarkar moved to the quieter suburbs of Kolkata in Barrackpore. There, he immersed himself in music and found inner peace that gave him time and energy to create his compositions.

Soon, he moved back to Kolkata in search of like-minded people and the Neel Sarkar Project was born.

In 2014, they came out with their first album Vishnu’s Report.

In Chandigarh to present two musical concerts, organised by the Alliance Francaise, Sarkar and his band of musicians talked about the project, cine concert Les Melodies de Nirbaak, and their second album, Zikr.

Talking about the cine concert, Sarkar said it is Pierre-Antoine Lasnier baby. Guitarist Lasnier said: “It is already quite popular across Europe and we are trying to replicate that in India.”

A ciné concert basically involves the screening of a silent film, with musicians playing live, frame by frame, narrating the story through music. Unlike the soundtrack, which is a recorded piece, this form is performed live in a structured manner, but open to improvisation.

For their tour, Sarkar and his band of musicians have picked four short silent films from The Georges Méliès Series – A trip to the Moon, Blue Beard, Joan of Arc and The Kingdom of Fairies.

From silent films to animations and children’s films to magnum opus, the cine concert can be applied to all kinds of cinema. “For India, we want to use the Indian silent films next year,” said Lasnier, adding that this country is a perfect place for a cine concert, as the people here love their music and cinema.

In the band, Lasnier is on bass guitar, Sarkar on guitar and various string instruments, Sushruto Goswami on flute, Pritam Sengupta on percussion and kalimba and Andrew Kay on saxophone, percussion and singing bowls. Les Mélodies de Nirbaak also comes from the Bengali word nirbaak, meaning silence.

About the Neel Sarkar Project, Sarkar said in this part, they will present music from their album, Zikr, and couple of new tracks. The project ropes in traditional Hindustani classical music and layers it with jazz harmonics, latin and flamenco music rhythmic structure.

While Sengupta said it is world music, for Sarkar this is an alternate ‘soul’ music, leading to inner peace and calm.

“I feel less is more and music is all about establishing a connection between a musician and audience. You have to engage a mind, reflect and reach out, like any artwork,” said Sarkar, who believes music is a dialogue. It speaks, listens, interacts, gives birth and encourages new relationships.

Yoga and music therapist, Kay agreed. In India for the past six years, Kay said music is therapeutic. “But not like a one pill wonder. It has to be constant, engaging and evolving,” said Kay.

Another element is that of change. For their second album, Sarkar decided to cut the digital element and keep the music raw.

A home production, they recorded every track at their home. They prefer instrumental because they feel music itself is a language. “Agreed film music has a mass appeal and lyrics are in abundance, but instrumental music is contemplative enough, makes one listen, absorb, think, question, experience,” said Kay.

The concerts will be held at The Taj at 7pm on Sunday.

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