Daughter of a Temple
The New York born, Tamil Nadu raised singer, poet, bassist and composer ganavya had not one but two monumental albums in 2024. The first, Like the Sky I’ve Been Too Quiet on Shabaka Hutchings’s Native Rebel label is a beautiful, floating exploration mainly of South Asian devotional music. But this follow-up sent listeners reeling. Recorded in a lengthy “ritual gathering” in Houston, Texas it features some 30 musicians, with artists from other disciplines contributing everything from tape editing to “correct textiles” – and it’s a glorious full-circle joining of the South Asian traditions with inspirations from the Black American jazz originators who themselves channeled those traditions: most notably John and Alice Coltrane whose work is covered or referenced copiously here. The album feels like an imposing, monumental temple in itself.