Dhruv Ghanekar sets out again on a musical Voyage

A journey through sound

There seems to be a special connection between music and travel. Musicians often talk about how travel experiences inspire them to create tunes. Likewise, best travel memories are sometimes associated with certain songs.

Composer, producer and guitarist Dhruv Ghanekar recently released the second edition of his collaborative album, Voyage 2. Encompassing sounds and styles of artistes from across the world, the project has been many years in the making. Since 2021, the journey has taken Dhruv across the globe — from Costa Rica to Boston, Paris to Denver, Nashville to New York City, with much of it being assembled at his studio in Mumbai. 

The idea kick-started a few years ago when Dhruv began recording melodies with Assamese playback and folk singer Kalpana Patowary and Rajasthani folk singer Ila Arun, who is also his mother-in-law. “I have always been drawn to powerful voices with a lot of character. By a happy coincidence, most of my principal artistes on this project are women, which was not premeditated but seems rather preordained. Every voice on Voyage 2 is an authority in the culture she represents,” smiled Ghanekar. 

Some of the other collaborators on the album include composer, lyricist and playback singer Vaishali Samant, bassist Mohini Dey, ace drummer Gino Banks, percussionist Taufiq Qureshi, singer and performer Nandini Srikar and noted bass guitarist Tim Lefebvre among others. “Voyage 2 is one big genre-less groove party. Being fearless and open to various influences allowed me to explore many of my influences.”

The album combines Indian folk music with music traditions from all over the world, including Brazilian Samba, Balkan music, funk and jazz. “Every song is a marriage of two or more diametrically different cultures,” explained Dhruv. Parts of the album were conceptualised while he was touring with the first Voyage project — including ‘Deuri’, a mix of traditional Assamese folk, jazz funk and Brazilian influences, and ‘O Sorothia’ blending Assamese with reggae, dub, electronica and rap. ‘Suprabhatam’ is a fusion of ancient Sanskrit prayers with drum, bass and hip-hop influences. In ‘Nacho’, Balkan horns and African guitars meet Ila Arun’s raw vocals.  

Further, there were newer songs that Dhruv started working on only a few months back, such as ‘Jatra’, a fusion of Marathi lavni with Brazilian grooves, Norwegian folk tunes and Portuguese vocals, and ‘Rasiya Chuneri’, which combines Motown funk with Rajasthani folk. All of Ila’s songs were composed a few years ago for a project called ‘Raudy Raajas’. The reggae and drum-and-bass influenced ‘Jadu’ as well as the funk fusion, ‘Bego’, were born from those sessions. As each song started taking shape, Dhruv initiated the process of recording their various instrumental parts.

Intrigued by the concept of creating a new stage musical from scratch for the Japanese market, Dhruv’s last public project was Mumbai Star (2023). Like the tapestry of the city that it shares the title with, its music is rich and diverse, including elements of Kathak, Bollywood and Broadway all wrapped in a musical extravaganza. The show received a phenomenal reception across Japan with over 30 shows in 25 cities . Much of it was recorded live, and took about nine months to create. “From high-energy dance anthems to heart-warming romantic ballads, classical Kathak-influenced dance pieces to a Mumbai-style rap/hip-hop, and an exhilarating celebration fusion track filled with rich Indian percussions,” is how Dhruv described it.