CHUTNEY Releases Infectious Album 'Ajar'

Hailing from Sydney, klezmer world fusion band CHUTNEY releases their debut album titled ‘Ajar.’

‘Ajar’ is a potpourri of CHUTNEY’s best 13 tracks, totalling over an hour of originals and fresh arrangements of classics honed across 100+ shows over the past four years. From traditional klezmer dance tunes to samba, from the jazz lounge to the concert hall, from Beethoven to Britney Spears, Rimsky-Korsakov to The Godfather, Mozart to Fiddler on the Roof - CHUTNEY has left the door ajar for everyone’s tastes!

On what they want the audience to take away from the album, band leader Ben Adler said, “we make music to move people: emotionally, physically. If even one person is moved by what they hear, we’ll consider our album a job well done.

“Given the wide and eclectic mix of genres and the old/new, instrumental/vocal, east/west, pop culture / art music dialectics that we’ve packed into Ajar, we’re confident that our tracks will resonate strongly and widely.”

Effortlessly blending genres throughout each of the tracks, the album traverses territory ranging from a Rachmaninov inspired piano/violin cadenza that can be heard in ‘Der Heyser Bulgar,’ journeying through the electronic sounds of ‘Leo’s Cry’ and ‘Sir Bunky,’ to the all-out symphonic rock coda of ‘Kama At Yafa.’

CHUTNEY is an Aussie klezmer band with a twist. Drawing on their Eastern European and Middle Eastern heritage, they play a spicy mix of original bangers and fresh takes on traditional dance tunes. Comprising clarinet, violin, keyboard, bass, percussion and drums - plus guest singers - the band hopscotches from folk to pop, jazz to tango, classical to funk, east to west.

The band has played the Sydney Opera House, toured up and down Australia’s east coast, and been broadcast across the country.