Here we are again, with an artist whose origin is apparently in the West, but who inhabits multiple cultural influences. This is a duo that goes by the name Seven Eyes. The singer, Tanya Wells, is British/Swiss but spent several years as a child living in northern India, her parents being members of a meditation/spiritual community. Tanya studied Hindustani classical singing while there and, as will become obvious, is fluent in Urdu and the popular Punjabi and Pakistani vocal style that is evident in singing the qawwali or ghazal.
The other half of the duo is Brazilian guitarist Paulo Vinicius, who hails from a background of European classical guitar training. In this video Tanya and Paulo are joined on the tablas by Gayan Singh.
The performance is at a music festival in New Delhi. Imagine singing in another language and musical style, in its place of origin. Talk about a tough audience to win over. But they gradually begin to warm to the performance as it proceeds.
This is music of the heart, and of the longing of the heart. It strikes me as one way we can truly honor one another, by absorbing the inward truth of another tradition, really hearing and understanding it, and then giving it back with all love.
There is a note that Tanya Wells hits at the end, the 4:38 mark, which seems to come from the bottom of her heart -- somewhere deep -- the cry of the embodied soul cut off from its Source -- it just stuns me. How could God not hear that? So, enjoy --
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