Nitin Sawhney

Sometimes it's good to just throw yourself into something without really knowing what you're getting yourself into, and this was definitely one of those situations. Nitin Sawhney exceeded all expectations and he and his band were breathtakingly talented. I'd never actually been exposed to his work before being offered tickets but it sounded like something I would enjoy and my gosh it was.

So what was it you ask? Nitin Sawhney is one of the world's most sort after composers and producers and has worked with international superstars such as Sting and Paul McCartney. He played with an ensemble of carefully selected, equally talented musicians with a set that's a mixture of jazz, pop, flamenco and Indian all collated together in one world music celebration. 

This was also my first chance to see the new and improved Hamer Hall which holds so many good memories of performing in high school. Everything was very shiny and new (as you'd expect it to be), but I wasn't a fan of the orange carpet.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take photo's of the performance, so I took some sneaky ones during applause, but they didn't turn out very good.

I normally steer clear of anything spiritual because I feel like people try to hard to get you to listen to them, but with Nitin Sawhney, he doesn't use his music to project his beliefs onto people, he uses other people's beliefs to create music.

The singers were absolutely memorising with pitch perfect vocal control and a velvet sound. Mumbai's most sought after flautist (yes that made me laugh too) used a wooden flute which sounded so organic and reminded me of panpipes. Seeing music like this reminds you that what we hear on mainstream radio is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to musical creativity and expression.

This is the best video I could find of the band he used for this performance and it isn't even a full song, but it gives you a little glimpse into his music. I have to say a big thank you to The Arts Centre Melbourne for this opportunity and I'm so glad I was about to experience this amazing musician.