Today sees the release of a haunting, deeply spiritual track called ‘forgive me my,’ the first release by singer ganavya for UK jazz guru, saxophonist, and producer Shabaka Hutchings’ Native Rebel Recordings.
The young singer and multi-instrumentalist, who was born in New York and raised in South India, has already caught the ears of producer Quincy Jones, jazz siren Esperanza Spalding (she appeared on the bassist/composer’s Grammy-winning Songwrights Apothecary Lab album) and the late Wayne Shorter.
Conceived during the pandemic, ‘forgive me my’ was inspired by Nigerian author Teju Cole’s words, “forgive me my forgetfulness, no one can forget gentleness”, a text reflecting on death. The track features harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and is accompanied by a video that displays moments of affection between ganavya’s friends and family, as they dance and pray together, braid each other’s hair, and press each other’s feet. The recording session, helmed by Shabaka Hutchings, was a quiet, but intense three days: largely improvised and with little advance planning.
LISTEN TO GANAVYA’S BRAND NEW TRACK ‘FORGIVE ME MY’ HERE: https://ganavya.lnk.to/forgivememy
What the press says:
“ganavya creates a lush twine out of American and South Asian traditions”
New York Times
“Among modern music’s most compelling vocalists”
Wall Street Journal
