Ravi Prasad crossed paths with Z Quartet in 2008, during the Métis of Saint-Denis festival where they shared the scene for the first time. The friendly insistence of Bruno Letort, who runs the Signature label, allowed this happy occasion to take place and lead to "Nilgiris" a work of incomparable grace.

"Nilgiris" is a new meeting, a new dialogue, an additional stop. It is the marriage of a contemporary string quartet and a master of Carnatic music. Ravi Prasad is the traveller evoked by Nietzsche in "Human All Too Human" who "looks at everything in the world with open eyes and sees things as they really are."

“Nilgiris", named after the Blue Mountains which run along the western coast of India, deep, dense and wild, Ravi Prasad tells a story, his own. Two cultures meet. His voice blends with the string quartet.

The music of Ravi Prasad tells us about the beach of Calicut, his hometown, the arrival of Vasco de Gama, the huge Chinese fishing nets that dance along the coast, the hands weaving garlands, glass bracelets tinkling and a swinging cradle.

This music is not nostalgic, it seems to have been improvised, like the wind in the trees.