{"id":1126,"date":"2016-06-02T02:38:54","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T02:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/littlevillagefoundation.com\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2018-07-02T02:48:38","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T02:48:38","slug":"india-currents-what-america-sounds-like-the-music-of-aki-kumar-and-aireene-espiritu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/littlevillagefoundation.com\/lv2021\/india-currents-what-america-sounds-like-the-music-of-aki-kumar-and-aireene-espiritu\/","title":{"rendered":"INDIA CURRENTS: What America Sounds Like: The music of Aki Kumar and Aireene Espiritu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Talent \u201cthat wouldn\u2019t otherwise be heard\u201d is what Jim Pugh, founder of Little Village Foundation, looks for and then goes about promoting. \u201cIt\u2019s like pebbles on the beach. You pick up one and it\u2019s beautiful, but when you hold four together the commonality emerges. It\u2019s breathtaking, and the bigger picture of what America really sounds like leaps out at you,\u201d he says on his blog. Every year, Village promotes a few hitherto unknown artists\u2014this year fea-tures two South Asians, Aki Kumar and Aireene Espiritu.Kumar gave up a career in software to create a music genre which Pugh called \u201cMuddy meets Mumbai,\u201d singing 1960s Bollywood songs in blues or jazz tones. The album has popular Hindi numbers such as \u201cJaanu Meri Jaan,\u201d \u201cBadan Pe Sita-are,\u201d \u201cBaar Baar Dekho,\u201d and \u201cChala Jaata Hoon.\u201d They sound different, rendered in Kumar\u2019s voice that has an American country twang. While non-Indian audi-ences have been appreciating these, what\u2019s more interesting is Aki\u2019s take on the blues. In \u201cHome is Prison\u201d and \u201cGoing to Bom-bay,\u201d Kumar certainly sounds more in his own groove and one hopes that he commits to this sub-genre in the future, perhaps singing them in Hindi. I asked Kumar a few questions about his music.<\/p>\n

IC: Why the blues?
\nAK: I didn\u2019t find the blues, the blues found me. If you talk to any real blues lover, they will tell you that there is some-thing so compelling and undeniable about this music that you have no choice but to fall in love with it. The same happened to me. My journey into the blues was through American Rock \u2019n\u2018 Roll\u2014mostly music from the 50s and 60s\u2014which I took a strong liking to in my late teens.<\/p>\n

IC: Do you consider Bollywood from 1950-60 to be \u201cBlueswood?\u201d
\nAK: Haha, not \u201cBlueswood\u201d in the pure sense but, yes. If you listen to Bol-lywood music from the era, you will find that blues, swing, jazz, Rock \u2019n\u2018 Roll had a huge influence on it. I suppose those Bol-lywood music directors and artists were just trying to stay hip and keep up with musical trends in the West.
\nIC: Who has been your favorite audi- ence\u2014city and profile\/ethnicity?<\/p>\n

AK: That is very tough to say, because I have had a great time performing all over the world to some incredibly loving and receptive audiences. I recently wrapped up a short tour of Finland with Chicago blues guitarist Rockin\u2019 Johnny and I must say I had such a good time performing to the blues lovin\u2019 crowds there that I\u2019m eager to go back again, soon!<\/p>\n

IC: How did you make the jump from 9 to 5 to full time musician?
\nAK: When I started dabbling in the blues harmonica, it was nothing more than a hobby. I would occasionally play with my colleagues or friends who were just looking to get together and have fun. As time went on, I improved as a musician and a performer. I found myself collaborating with many local blues musi-cians, attending jams and even perform-ing my own shows. I was leading a very fulfilling but sometimes strenuous double life\u2014software engineer during the day, blues musician at night. In the last few years, especially, it became very obvious that I had a true passion for the blues and that if I didn\u2019t pursue it wholeheartedly, I would be denying myself the opportunity of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Philippines originated Espiritu, on the other hand, has always been on the move\u2014she literally lives out of her car. Pugh was reminded of the reigning blues queen Sugar Pie DeSanto (who is part Filipino) and doing a tribute was the origi-nal idea behind the album \u201cBack Where I Belong.\u201d However, it became much more than that, encompassing Espiritu\u2019s whole style, which in her own words, is an \u201cum-brella of Americana\u2014a mix of country, blues, bluegrass, gospel, and folk,\u201d and some Filipino folk songs. I asked Espiritu about her musical journey.<\/p>\n

IC: How would you describe your own discovery of a musical identity?
\nAE: I remember the first time I be-came obsessed with a song. I was 10. Shortly after we moved to the United States, we lived with my aunt and her fam-ily for a couple of years. I found a cassette tape in their basement and put it on out of curiosity. The first song played and I found myself playing it over and over. I would think about the song during the day, the hang out in the living room and share stories of growing up in the province. We would wake up at 4 a.m. and wait for the man on a bicycle to pass through town with freshly baked hot pan de sal (Filipino bread), have meriendas (snacks, appetiz-ers, desserts). Family, food, and stories. That\u2019s what I look forward to.<\/p>\n

IC: Would you rather continue living the life of a traveler\u2014does that provide the canvas or the colors for your music?
\nAE: For now, yes, I prefer to be travel-ing. Last year I told myself that maybe<\/p>\n

different layers, simultaneous notes and looked forward to coming home to repeat play again. The song was Scott Joplin\u2019s \u201cThe Entertainer.\u201d I knew then that I wanted to play music.<\/p>\n

IC: The album has some Filipino tracks: How did that come about?
\nAE: At family gatherings, my uncles, aunts, mom, would sing and dance. I never sang along, just en- joyed watching everyone and listen-ing. I thought someday I\u2019d like to record them playing these Filipino songs. \u201cBayan Ko\u201d (My Country) is a patriotic song about yearning to be free. \u201cOras Na\u201d (It\u2019s Time) is about conquering fear and following your heart. \u201cDukha\u201d (Poor) is about being poor.<\/p>\n

IC: Do you visit the Philippines often, what do you seek in those visits?
\nAE: I try to go almost every year ever since my grandmother moved back in 2009. She\u2019s in her 90s so time is pre-cious. I love going to the province where she lives, disconnected to technology and just \u201cbe.\u201d Up until last year there was no internet, no cell phone service. So my fam-2015 would be the year I\u2019d settle down, but the year came and went and I never felt the longing to have my own place again. I like spending time with friends in different places and meeting new ones, collecting their stories, visiting new places, landscapes, and cultures. On the flip side, it\u2019s also exhausting constantly planning sched-ules, loading and unloading my things which includes my kitchen, instru-ments, office, clothes. Still, the pluses outweigh the minuses and I wouldn\u2019t trade my experiences for anything. I imagine eventually I\u2019ll want a place again, but I don\u2019t see it anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Kumar and Espiritu will play at the The Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, on June 9. The albums are set for release on July 15. More info at thefreight.org and littlevillagefounda-tion.com\/ Priya Das is an enthusiastic follower of world music and avidly tracks intersecting points between folk, classical, jazz and other genres. – By Priya Das<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talent \u201cthat wouldn\u2019t otherwise be heard\u201d is what Jim Pugh, founder of Little Village Foundation, looks for and then goes about promoting. \u201cIt\u2019s like pebbles on the beach. You pick up one and it\u2019s beautiful, but when you hold four together the commonality emerges. It\u2019s breathtaking, and the bigger picture of what America really sounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nINDIA CURRENTS: What America Sounds Like: The music of Aki Kumar and Aireene Espiritu - Little Village Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/littlevillagefoundation.com\/lv2021\/india-currents-what-america-sounds-like-the-music-of-aki-kumar-and-aireene-espiritu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"INDIA CURRENTS: What America Sounds Like: The music of Aki Kumar and Aireene Espiritu - Little Village Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Talent \u201cthat wouldn\u2019t otherwise be heard\u201d is what Jim Pugh, founder of Little Village Foundation, looks for and then goes about promoting. \u201cIt\u2019s like pebbles on the beach. 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