Talk about multi-talented. Not many leaders of the world of business and finance can also claim to be Grammy-nominated singers. Chandrika Tandon can.

Born in India, Tandon was trained in classical Indian vocalization as a girl, influenced by her talented mother. Instead of the arts, however, Tandon pursued business, spending years as a partner with McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, and then founding Tandon Capital Associates, Inc. in New York City.

Tandon’s musical gift kept calling to her, however, and Soul Call, her second album, is the remarkable result. The mellow album arranges traditional Sanskrit chants, and Tandon’s clear voice deserves every bit of the praise it’s been receiving.

TravelTracks has a guest writer this week!  Sarah Stewart is a freelance writer (and, full disclosure, she is also TravelTracks’ sister) who specializes in travel and recreation writing. She recently saw singer and musician Vienna Teng perform and was captivated.  Read on for her account…

The haunting rise and fall fills the auditorium, from the soaring wooden rafters to my seat at the edge of the darkened room. I don’t know the words or the meaning to this Taiwanese folk song, but I don’t need to: In my mind I see a peasant woman working in a field, the sunrise turning the mist around her a golden yellow. To me it sounds like peace, and simplicity, and love.

Heard live, Vienna Teng’s voice is nothing short of arresting. I first saw this 31-year-old Taiwanese-American musician at a 20-minute set she played during a recent lecture series I attended in Boulder, Colorado. From the first a cappella notes of Teng’s rendition of “Green Island Serenade,” I was mesmerized by her clear, rich, mournful voice.

Part of the magic of that night was a sense of discovery of being entranced by a performance of which I had no prior expectations. But expectations aside, Teng’s talent shines: Through the rest of her set of English piano-pop songs (somewhat reminiscent of Vanessa Carlton), she showcased spell-binding piano skills, smart lyrics and a sort of one-woman-band effect using a recorder that plays back her percussion sounds in a loop.

Though I could better understand the language of the latter part of Teng’s set, it was that first Taiwanese ballad that most spoke to me. She explained its meaning only after singing it: This children’s lullaby that her parents used to sing to her tells of someone stranded on Green Island, formerly a political prison off Taiwan’s coast, singing to a lost loved one on the mainland. But she went on to say she believes its true meaning lies in whatever feeling it gives each individual who hears it.

So for me, it’s still the simple beauty of a sunrise over the mist.

Watch this video to get your own taste of Vienna Teng:

Indigenous cultures the world over perform rituals to please the gods and ask for blessings. While the majority of these rituals take place on terra firma, the Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers) is a bit different. The ritual, which is said to have been created to ask the gods to end a drought, originated during the pre-Hispanic period in the Veracruz region of Mexico and is most associated with the town of Papantla.

Five men dressed in bright costumes and festive hats partake in the ritual. They begin by walking in a circle around a 30-meter-tall pole, incorporating choreographed dance steps. Then they climb the pole and arrange themselves with one man in the center, who plays the carrizo flute and a tamborcillo, and the other four men balanced on the sides of a square frame that turns. The music player remains at the top of the pole, playing as the four men (who each have a rope tied to one foot) pitch backwards off the frame and swing out into the air. With each turn of the frame, the flyers’ ropes release one loop, gradually lowering the men to the ground. While the men make their flight, they strike a variety of poses in unison. The total effect is entrancing, and this ritual has been recognized by UNESCO in hopes of preserving it.

Watch the flyers perform this ritual: