SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Poorva Express; Lele Lele; and Swami Coco & the Maximum Meetha Orchestra

Poorva Express

The Swedish-Norwegian duo Poorva Express plays north Indian classical music with the traditional instruments Sitar and Tabla. The members, Stian Grimstad (Sitar) and Moa Danielson (Tabla), have been giving concerts together in Sweden and Europe since 1999 and have both spent several years in India studying music. The Indian raga is always the basis for indian classical music, a complex combination of improvisation and structure with very old roots. A raga can be performed in different lenghts, ranging from a few minutes to several hours, always with an increase in tempo from very slow to very fast.
Poorva Express follows this form in their conserts, from slow meditation to extacy. The duo usually starts the conserts with an introduction to the raga, to give the audience a chance to understand the basics of indian music and from this increase the enjoyment of the performance. In addition to ragas Poorva Express also play ”semi classical” tunes such as folk melodies, religious songs (bhajans) and old Indian movie songs.

More information about Poorva Express (in Swedish): www.sasnet.lu.se/poorva.pdf
Poorva Express web page, with music samples: www.myspace.com/poorvaexpress

Lele Lele

The Swedish-Norwegian-Bulgarian group Lele Lele, led by Stian Grimstad (Sitar) and Moa Danielson (Tabla), plays a unique mix of north indian classical music, Bulgarian folk music and jazz. With the basis in both traditional and original material the band creates their special sound through daring arrangements combined with big amounts of improvisation. The unusual combination of instruments (Sitar, Tabla, Tamboura (Bulgarian Lute), Saxophone, Clarinet, Guitar, Tuba and Vocals), often in combination with odd meters, provides the audience with musical surprises as well as an urge to dance.
Lele Lele started playing together in 2003 and have beside lots of concerts in Sweden performed in Bulgaria (tours in 2004 and 2006), Serbia, Slovenia and Austria. 2006 Lele Lele was awarded with the World Music First Prize in Albena International Folklore Festival. Lele Lele live is a mix of Balkan style dance music, often resulting in Bulgarian ring dance in the audience, and indian inspired tunes with focus on improvisations where the musicians have space to show their skills both in solos and group improvisations. For the Canadian audience maybe even a Swedish folktune in Indian-Bulgarian style?

More information about Lele Lele (in Swedish): www.sasnet.lu.se/lelelele.pdf
Lele Lele web page, with music samples: www.lele-lele.se/

Swami Coco & the Maximum Meetha Orchestra
(featuring the lovely Delhi Belly Dancers)

Swami Coco & the Maximum Meetha Orchestra is a six member band, coordinated by ”Dr. Shruti” and ”Rani Diwani” (Stian Grimstad (Sitar) and Moa Danielson (Tabla), performing live the music of the legendary composer and pioneer of Indian fusion: Ananda Shankar. His music is a combination of bollywood and folk inspired melodies from india and western rock and technology. Ananda Shankar started his carrier in the seventies and has released lots of records in his particular style.
Swami Coco & the Maximum Meetha Orchestra try to keep this genious’ music alive and give the western audience an opportunity to experience his music live. Whith a setting of sitar, tabla, drumkit, electric guitar, bass guitar, flute and electronics the sound of Swami Coco is something new for most people. The music of Ananda Shankar is very rythm based, so the audience have no option but to dance. The band even play some bollywood hits from the seventies and a few other classics, all in Ananda Shankars sound.
To top the performance, Swami Coco & the Maximum Meetha Orchestra features the lovely ”Delhi Belly Dancers”, a trio usually performing under the name Sangam. They are specialized in Bollywood dance and give in combination with Swami Cocos ultimate groove an extatic performance that challenges both feet, ears and eyes.

More information about Swami Coco & the Maximum Meetha Orchestra: www.sasnet.lu.se/swamiband.pdf