Cologne-based South Indian percussionist Ramesh Shotham has recorded a new album with his band Madras Special: "here it is" is a rousing sound trip through different musical cultures and moods, a style mix of Indian classical music, jazz, funk, rock, world music and beyond. The change between precisely played Indian scales inspired by classical South Indian ragas and free improvisation with elements of jazz and world music leads to a hybrid mixture of the special kind. Complex grooves, which resemble cryptic mathematical formulas, make the music both intellectually stimulating and forcefully physically experienceable. Ramesh Shotham has lived in Cologne for more than 20 years and has become a formative bridge builder between different musical cultures. In addition to collaborations with international music greats from jazz and world, Shotham has always had his own projects, including Madras Special. In the New Generation issue, Shotham Madras Special has added two exciting young musicians from the Cologne scene who shape the sound of the band with their fresh style, energy and joy of playing. The international line-up includes musicians from India, Germany, Iran and Hungary, who already bring along exciting mixtures of different music cultures. The result is music in which the individual components no longer have to be filtered out in order to immerse themselves in the world of this new sound.
