Premiere: New York’s Rini Teams Up with Shakthisree Gopalan for Jazz-Fusion Tune ‘Maghizini’

A new Tamil-English collaboration between Indian-origin violinist, vocalist and composer Rini and singer-composer Shakthisree Gopalan encourages us to enjoy the small things in life. “Maghizini” with its dexterous jazz-fusion rhythms and switch-ups is part of Rini aka Harini S. Raghavan’s ongoing Blue Carpet Sessions.

Recorded in August last year, it’s the culmination of a few years of friendship and association between the artists, who first met in 2017 at a gig. When Gopalan moved to New York City a year ago, a collaboration was on the cards. Gopalan says, “The song emerged out of a conversation that Rini and I had during our co-writing session. Rini had shared a motif in ‘nalinakanthi‘ and the moment I heard it – it made me think of home.”

In savoring the little things life has to offer but also invoking ideas of home and comfort, the singer’s English verses are a distinctly cozy juxtaposition to the energetic Tamil vocals of Rini. It helps that with the band arrangements, it suited Rini’s Blue Carpet Sessions live performance video series. “It was meant to be a platform for me to experiment with different dimensions of Indian fusion and different sounds with new instruments and new collaborations,” Rini says of the series.

On February 2nd, the duo will share the stage, at what is Gopalan’s first public New York performance, with support coming from Rini and her band. Gopalan says, “I am eagerly looking forward to performing my original music featuring some songs from my upcoming EP. I’ll be performing film songs that I have sung, that are very close to my heart, and handpicked covers that have had a big impact on me.” Rini adds that this might be a recurring performance that can break brackets. “Our plan is to make this concert a showcase, create a showreel and take this on the road to other cities in the U.S.,” she says.

Up next, Gopalan is plotting to release her debut EP, while also taking on gigs in India and the U.S., while also taking part in songwriting sessions. Rini, for her part, will be heading to the Grammys as part of the team nominated for Berklee Indian Ensemble’s album Shuruaat. In addition to a new EP and more Blue Carpet Sessions videos, Rini and her band will head to India, kicking off a tour on February 16th, with shows in Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad confirmed so far. “Very excited to connect with our audiences again in person, after five years,” the artist says.

Watch the video for “Maghizini” below. Stream on Spotify and Apple Music.