New York Guitarist Eshaan Sood Releases New Album: Dream River

Joe Barth interviews guitarist Eshaan Sood as he comfortable performs jazz, folk, and contemporary classical traditions.

From New Delhi, India, he has performed in many of the world’s major cities and has done so despite being blind. He has just released a new album, Dream River.

JB:  Before I ask about the new Dream River album, tell me about yourself.  You grew up in New Delhi, India. During your teenage years, what was musically most helpful in your personal development as a guitarist?

ES:  As a teenager, the single most influential kind of music in my life was heavy metal. I think listening to the shredding solos of all the extreme metal bands I was listening to at the time really gave me an appreciation for the technical side of music. At the same time, my parents were taking me to concerts ever since I was a little kid, and watching live music really instilled a reverence in me for the stage.

JB:  Eshaan , to learn more about what shaped your musical values on the guitar, to you, what are the three most influential guitar albums and why? 

ES:   Kurt Rosenwinkel’s The Remedy (Live at the Village Vanguard) – This is the album that really sent me rushing towards jazz. Kurt’s playing on this record is simply jaw-dropping. The way he and Mark Turner play together always floors me to this day. If I ever need a reminder of why I play jazz, all I have to do is put this record on.

Joni Mitchell – Blue – I came to this album much later than most people. Blue really taught me what it meant as a guitar player and composer to support a melody. So many of these songs rely solely on the guitar to convey every musical element, a skill I am sure I will work on till the day I die.

Lionel Loueke – Virgin Forest – This was the first trio record that brought me to tears. I still remember the cold December day in 2017 when I first heard this album at 2 a.m. The writing, the guitar playing, the structure of the album, everything on this record to me is perfect. It was also the first time I heard someone incorporate their culture seamlessly into the jazz idiom.

 JB:  Talk about the title track “Mountain Muse” that opens the album.

ES: “Mountain Muse” was the first instrumental song I ever wrote. In a lot of ways, it shaped how I compose to this day. It is an ode to the Himalayas, my favorite region in the world. The opening is a wonky rhythm that catches my disorientation on the winding roads, the melody an ode to pahadi folk music, and the crescendo of the collective improvisation an acknowledgement that the memory I have of this place is, thanks to all the people who spent time with me there.

JB:  The album consists of all original songs by you.  Did you compose this music for this particular project?

ES:  Mostly, yes. “Mountain Muse” and “Plea for Forgiveness” were written before I met the people in this band. All the other songs were written specifically for this project and this group of musicians.

JB:  Talk about your experience with Indian music and its influence on you.

ES: Ever since I was a little kid my mom used to take me to Indian classical music concerts. I played the tabla as a little kid and then again later as a teenager. I also took lessons for a very short time with a Sarod player on my fretless Strat. However, Indian classical music is a little too formal for my personality, so I’ve always enjoyed it from afar and learnt what I can through listening. 

JB:  Bassist Brendan Nie and drummer Sam Schaeffer play superbly.  What do you appreciate most about these two musicians as your rhythm section?

ES: I have never had a rhythm section that has functioned so much as one unit as Brendan and Sam. It has been such a gift working with the two of them. The natural musical chemistry between the two of them is just amazing; it’s almost like both of them listen to the music with the same two ears. Always listening and always responding.
 
JB:  Talk about your musical relationship with pianist Annie Orzen.

ES: Annie is one of the most sensitive musicians I know. She is the glue that binds all the disparate elements of the music together. She is one of the few pianists where the two us can comp together and create a combined texture. Along with being the pianist, she also scribes all my charts since I am blind and need some help with that, so she is the first one who hears any of these songs.
 
JB:  Ivan Demarjian is a lyrical saxophonist. What do you appreciate about his playing?

ES: I have never met a more technically adept saxophonist that is not always trying to shred all over the place. He uses his skills to always serve the song first and plays straight from the heart. He keeps me inspired on and off the bandstand.

JB:  Tell me about the Sonic Alchemists.

ES: The Sonic Alchemists is my attempt to synthesize all my eclectic inspirations and bring them to one place. I love jazz, but living in India, I first got into jazz when I was 22 and had a whole life of other music before that. The Sonic Alchemists started as a name I used because I did not want to call it the Eshaan Sood Quintet, and it has now become a musical being of its own, shaped by everyone currently part of the group.
 
JB:  What do you appreciate most about the guitar you play?

ES: The guitar I play right now is a Hera made by Nico Moffa. At the time of recording the album I had only played this guitar for a month. It has the best neck I have ever played and is just so easy to play, it almost feels like cheating. The string spacing makes it perfect to switch between fingerstyle and the pick, and the pickups he made just have such a nice balance.
 
JB:  Other than the title, why close the album with “Sailing Through Dream River?”
 
ES: To me, every song represents a time of day and a mood. I wanted to create a sequence in the album that felt like late morning with “Mountain Muse” and travelled through the hours and brought you back to the morning with “Sailing Through Dream River.”

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