Varijashree Venugopal Drops Dexterous Song ‘Ranjani’ from ‘Vari’ Album

Bengaluru Carnatic-fusion artist Varijashree Venugopal breaks new ground with the release of her new song “Ranjani,” the first single from the composer, flautist and vocalist’s upcoming album Vari (out via GroundUP Music in May).

The artist collaborates with Grammy-winning banjo great Béla Fleck, GroundUP founder and producer Michael League from Snarky Puppy (who comes into the technicolor video with a mean synth addition) and co-producer Pramath Kiran. Percussion ace B.C. Manjunath is the playful counterpart to Venugopal’s deft vocal range, while more instrumentalists include violinists Sindhu and Smitha H.M. along with Mattur Srinidhi, nadaswaram artist Dakshinamurty, chende artist Gurumurthy Vaidya and thavil player Raja K. In a true bringing together of the classical, fusion and jazz worlds, “Ranjani” draws from what Venugopal calls “one of my favorite ragas ever since I was a child.”

She adds in a statement, “The phrases that my father sang to me 30 years ago, instilling the soul of Ranjani in me, still resonate in my ears. ‘Ranjani’ in this album, is my thread of thoughts through the raga, traveling with world companions adding spices in the form of banjo, robust Carnatic violins, classical and folk rhythms from India.”

With Fleck – who just won two Grammys for his work with tabla legend Zakir Hussain, flautist Rakesh Chaurasia and bassist-composer Edgar Meyer – Venugopal says it’s a “huge honor” to have the veteran on the track, blending banjo with raag ranjani in “unimaginable ways.”

With Vari slated to release in the coming months, Venugopal also joins another celebrated and globally acclaimed artist Jacob Collier on his upcoming album Djesse Vol. 4, releasing February 29th. The Indian artist joins Indo-American sitarist, vocalist and composer Anoushka Shankar on the song “A Rock Somewhere,” part of a formidable guest artist list on Djesse Vol. 4 including John Legend, John Mayer, Camilo, Steve Vai, Aespa and Chris Martin, Stormzy and Brandi Carlile, among others.

Watch the video for “Ranjani” below.