Her debut album, Mukherjee already has a reputation as a top ranked sitar player, learning her craft, via Hindustani classical music, from her uncle, Nikhil Banerjee, Ali Akbar Khan and Aashish Khan. This vinyl release is an ideal opportunity to hear this expressive instrument on analogue.
This might be her debut album but fans of alternative dance music and intelligent techno, not to mention regular listeners to the much missed John Peel Show, will be very familiar with Mukherjee’s output as part of the revered Transglobal Underground, fronted by Natacha Atlas as well as her work with the Imagined Village, the multicultural folk project set up by Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt Sound System.
In 2005, she emerged as a composer in her own right, creating the music for the West Yorkshire Playhouse productions Gluey and the Lion and Non-Contact Time as well as the score for the Tamasha Theatre Company’s 2009 musical Wuthering Heights. Her composition Bending in the Dark appeared during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
My goodness how this album rings the changes of variety.
Starting with Slash Sitar which sounds positively heavy metal in its approach. Grandiose, epic and dominating. Sikkim Girls lowers the pace and takes a lumbering, yet still complex arrangement while Little Dragon sees Mukhergee in full sitar solo flight, forming complex shapes and pictures. The cross cultural nature of her career remains on this album with her moving into Radiohead lyrics while her reggae-tinged Sitska begs for regular dips to the knees during play. Then there is L’amite, complete with a French lyric! You get the general idea, here.
Yes, it might lack a little focus, Mukherjee might sound like she’s just found the keys to a sweet shop, but there is plenty
Label: ECC100 – 001
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Memory Stick, MPEG-4 Video, WAV, Album
Country: UK
Released: 2014
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Tracklist
A1 Slash Sitar 4:10
A2 Sikkim Girls 4:59
A3 Street Spirit
Arranged By – Sheema Mukherjee
Written-By – Radiohead
Arranged By – Sheema Mukherjee
Written-By – Radiohead
4:30
A4 Lucid & Just 5:33
A5 Little Dragon
Lyrics By – Ameer Khusro*
Lyrics By – Ameer Khusro*
4:40
A6 SitSka 2:14
A7 L'amitié
Arranged By – Sheema Mukherjee
Written-By – Françoise Hardy
Arranged By – Sheema Mukherjee
Written-By – Françoise Hardy
2:52
B1 Morning Celeste
Mixed By – Geoff Webb
Mixed By – Geoff Webb
7:29
B2 A 1000 Layer Cake 7:08
B3 Mrs Moo 5:09
B4 Saraswati Waltz 6:10
B5 Morning Reprise 3:52
B6 Bit God 2:33
Credits
Bass – Nigel Dale (tracks: A2, A5, 2, 5), Richard Evans (3) (tracks: B5, 12)
Drums, Percussion – Ged Lynch
Guitar – Nigel Dale
Horns – Kick Horns
Mixed By – Simon Massey (tracks: A1 to A7, B2 to B6, 1 to 7, 9 to 13)
Ney – Serkan Alkan (tracks: A4, 4)
Producer – Geoff Webb, Serkan Alkan, Sheema Mukherjee, Simon Emmerson, Simon Massey
Sitar, Bass, Vocals, Tambura – Sheema Mukherjee
Strings – John Metcalfe
Tabla – Manjit Singh Rasiya (tracks: B1, 8)
Vocals – Jackie Oates (tracks: A2, 2)
Written-By – Sheema Mukherjee (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to A6, B1 to B6, 1, 2, 4 to 6, 8 to 13)
Notes
Issued in a gatefold sleeve.
Tracks A7, 7 wrongly listed as "L'amite"
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode: 5 060214 040297
British composer and sitar player Sheema Mukherjee has been a regular in musical collective Transglobal Underground and a key member in The Imagined Village project, as well as a collaborator with musicians all over the world, since 1998. Having been influenced by both North Indian classical music as well as a variety of western music, Sheema has a distinctive sound that allows her to work across many styles and genres. In the past, she has worked with the likes of Noel Gallagher & Cornershop, Martin Carthy and Bobby McFerrin.
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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
The “original sitar girl” Sheema Mukherjee wields her sitar deftly, with a certainty and coolness borne from a lifetime of honing her craft.
Sheema started playing the sitar at the age of eight, and was classically trained by her beloved uncle, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Growing up, her childhood was split between India and England and she took advantage of the myriad of musical avenues open to her. Her eclectic and far-reaching musical influences are responsible for the rich tapestry of Eastern and Western sounds that make up her unique back catalogue.
An accomplished and versatile musician, Sheema has a sparkling, shape shifting quality, slipping from one genre to another with elegance and ease. Whether exploring the foothills of Darjeeling, composing or performing or inspiring an exotic fragrance, she is “The Original Sitar Girl”
She has composed and worked alongside many esteemed artists and organisations including Sir John Tavener, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Courtney Pine and Bobby McFerrin.
credits
released August 23, 2022
Bass – Nigel Dale (tracks: A2, A5, 2, 5), Richard Evans (tracks: B5, 12)
Drums, Percussion – Ged Lynch
Guitar – Nigel Dale
Horns – Kick Horns
Mixed By – Simon Massey (tracks: A1 to A7, B2 to B6, 1 to 7, 9 to 13)
Ney – Serkan Alkan (tracks: A4, 4)
Producer – Geoff Webb, Serkan Alkan, Sheema Mukherjee, Simon Emmerson, Simon Massey
Sitar, Bass, Vocals, Tambura – Sheema Mukherjee
Strings – John Metcalfe
Tabla – Manjit Singh Rasiya (tracks: B1, 8)
Vocals – Jackie Oates (tracks: A2, 2)
Written-By – Sheema Mukherjee (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to A6, B1 to B6, 1, 2, 4 to 6, 8 to 13)
Sheema Mukherjee is a British composer and sitar player. She is best known for her work with musical collective Transglobal
Underground and The Imagined Village. She is the niece of sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. In 2005, Billboard referred to her as a "sitar prodigy"....more