RILEY Joseph Giandhari – a composer, arranger and session drummer – has released a single.
Giandhari, also known as Riley G, has performed with artists such as Hugh Masekela, Neil Gonsalves, Brian Simpson and Raphael Clarkson and at events such as the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival, the Oslo Jazz Festival, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, and the Zakifo Music Festival.
His single, Paradise In My Dream, was released recently on all digital platforms.
The 28-year-old has been involved in music professionally from 2013. He started off mainly in the performance sector and became a composer, arranger, teacher, producer, and audio engineer.
“I grew up in a musical family and was exposed to music from a young age. The sound of music became part of me and was difficult to ignore. Regardless of the environment I was in, I always tried to get sound out of something.
“It could be tapping away in the car or on my desk at school, or using cutlery in the kitchen. I think about music every day, as its influence on me from a young age has left me fascinated.”
He said his single evolved during one of the Covid-19 lockdowns, when the future seemed unpredictable.
“Being trapped in my music studio was good and bad simultaneously. Although I got to make music and experiment with sounds, I also had anxiety. I could only imagine the world going back to normal, but at the time no one knew when.
“I composed the piece by layering fragments of sounds and ideas together. My goal was for the track to have a fusion of sounds that would include elements from other genres. To some extent, I have met that goal.”
He said the story behind Paradise In My Dream was based on hope and faith.
“At the realisation of the theme (keyboard intro), I remember being in an anxious but hopeful state. These emotions are conveyed throughout the piece. When composing this piece, I wanted to fuse trap, reggae and funk music with orchestral instruments. I consider the genre to be electronic world music.”
Giandhari said he planned to release a fusion jazz album titled Joseph's Mind in April 2023.
“This is the first in the series The Riley G Collective. This album was supposed to have been released in 2019, but unfortunately it kept getting postponed. Then when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I lost all hope. It seems 2023 will be a year in which I will release all my music composed and produced between 2018 and 2022.”
Paradise In My Dream can be streamed on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Boolplay. Follow Giandhari on Facebook: Riley G Music.
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