The latest album by violinist Kumaresh R and veena artiste Jayanthi Kumaresh, Run with SA, with its thumping rhythms and cadence is perfect for workouts. The five-track, 36-minute long album has warm-up tracks, fast-paced and cool down pieces based on Carnatic ragas, garnished with a dash of African Malian phrases, and some Cuban and Brazilian pop. The album was born when someone in the Kumareshs’ walking group spoke of the need to have a playlist while on the run.
“The music is composed specially for workouts using the Carnatic raga and tala format,” says Kumaresh. “We perceive rhythm everywhere including in the way our heart beats. It was interesting to match the speed of the music with the rhythm of a workout.”
The SA in the name of the album is an acronym for Strings Attached (the Kumareshs’ production house), says Jayanthi. ‘“Sa’ is also a musical note.” The musical duo researched fashioning melody into diverse tempos. “We also researched the exact work-out requirements — the duration, varied pace and stages of workout to ensure the music fitted into the BPM (beats per minute) followed during workouts,” says Kumaresh.