Samir Chatterjee a scientist cum noted musician has come up with his debut new age album Stairway to Nirvana under his new artist name Samir Bodhi.
A resident of Southern California for several decades, Kolkata born musical visionary and tenured professor Samir Bodhi’s multi-faceted life and career reflects the classic immigrant experience of thriving in the pursuit of his creative and academic dreams.
Samir Chatterjee applied his virtuosic talents as a guitarist, composer, producer and recording engineer to a multitude of projects involving legendary Indian musicians – including several for his wife, Madhumita Chatterjee, a noted Bollywood singer.
Samir’s sorrow and concern for his adopted home country inspired Samir to reach out to a cadre of top Indian based musicians and collaborators to realize his vision for Stairway to Nirvana, his debut album as a new age artist under his new artist name Samir Bodhi. Fusing Eastern (Indian) classical music and instruments with modern Western music, Bodhi and his ensemble create a melodically, rhythmically and harmonically transcendent album that offers a musical roadmap to peace in these troubled times.
The album was recorded with live musicians at Vibrations Studio in Kolkata by Goutam Basu. The flute part was recorded in Mumbai played by versatile Rakesh Chaurasia. The entire album was mixed by Biswadeep Chatterjee in Mumbai and mastered by John Polito in Los Angeles. All tracks were arranged by Sanjoy Das (aka Bapi) and is streaming on all major platforms.
The title and vibe of each track on Stairway to Nirvana reflects one aspect of what Samir and his ensemble believe the world needs to work through these troubled times and achieve an enduring sense of Nirvana in the here and now. “Tranquility” flows like a lush, sensually swaying film score, artfully blending symphonic synth strings, a lead guitar melody, flute and subtle tabla textures. “OM” is based on the universally recognized breathing chant and sacred sound and spiritual symbol in Indian religions that signifies the essence of ultimate reality and consciousness.
The soulful, atmospheric ballad “Harmony” embodies its lofty concept via a fusion of a languid and haunting electric guitar melody, synth washes, hypnotic percussion claps and colorful, jazzy guitar and piano solos. Samir sees this meditative track as the one which most powerfully blends Eastern and Western aesthetics. “Peace” is a hypnotic and lyrical, folk rock flavored tune that begins with a synth generated droning sound and showcases the sultry, emotional vocals of Madhumita Chatterjee singing lyrics by Dutta that translate to a call for the world to come together.
At last, and heading to our ultimate spiritual destination, we reach “Nirvana,” a mystical piece by Sanjoy Das that starts by blending soothing atmospheres, a mournful cry from the sarangi and an exotic groove behind the echoes of sarangi and a weeping electric guitar. In Samir’s eyes, “It covers this whole feeling of going through the stages of life, from mournful to joyful, and eventually reaching enlightenment.”
The new album held court at #1 on Amazon’s New Age New Release chart for several weeks, and since release debuted at #4 this month on the Zone Music Reporter’s Global Airplay charts. The uniquely modern album was nominated for Hollywood Music and Media Awards (HMMA) and found its way to SiriusXM’s Spa channel as well as curated playlists and traditional radio stations across the world. As Samir says, music has the power to be a great healer of the body, mind and spirit, and beyond providing a meaningful listening experience, I would love this album to serve as a healing agent for people during this challenging time in world history.
