<p class="bodytext">Karnatik violinist, Jyotsna Srikanth, just re-released her 2015 EP ‘Bangalore Dreams’. The five-track album is being re-launched under Tala Root Records, the new sub-label of Femme Music. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The Karnatik-jazz album was born out of Jyotsna’s memories of old Bangalore when she was living in London. She realised that people were more familiar with Hindustani music, while Karnatik largely flew under the radar. She felt a strong need to make ragas reach the masses, she recalls. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The album features Jyotsna on violin, Shadrach Solomon on keys, and N Amruth on mridangam and khanjira.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nostalgia is a strong theme. ‘Haunting Thoughts’ was created in memory of her mother as she dearly missed her and the house she lived in. And the song ‘Temple Island’ is inspired by the peaceful kalyani raga and her memories of kalyani or temple stepwell ponds. </p>.Kacheri Gang: Trio fusing classical styles to create new sound.<p class="bodytext">Jyotsna has now teamed up with Vishak Ramprasad, a keyboard player and music composer, and Amoghavarsha, a Bengaluru-based drummer and percussionist. They will be part of the new Jyotsna Karnatik Jazz Trio.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The group will perform in Bengaluru on May 2 to mark the album’s re-launch. While the western drums lend the music the jazz sound, Amoghavarsha will also play the morsing and the cajon, replacing the mridangam and khanjira.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jyotsna grew up in a traditional South Indian family in Bengaluru. Her mother Rathna Srikantiah, a Karnatik vocalist, was her first guru. By age seven, she was playing and improvising on the violin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She performed her first concert at the age of nine, and started undergoing formal training at age 10 under the legendary seven-stringed violinist R R Keshavamurthy. She then began playing for films and has worked with the likes of film composers Ilaiyaraaja and Hamsalekha.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A pathologist by education, she moved to London in 2004 along with her husband. Though initially reluctant, within a year she began receiving invites to perform and was soon touring across Europe. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Her goal is to find a larger audience for Karnatik-jazz fusion. The re-release of ‘Bangalore Dreams’ is one step in that direction, she points out. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The album is available on all streaming platforms.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Karnatik violinist, Jyotsna Srikanth, just re-released her 2015 EP ‘Bangalore Dreams’. The five-track album is being re-launched under Tala Root Records, the new sub-label of Femme Music. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The Karnatik-jazz album was born out of Jyotsna’s memories of old Bangalore when she was living in London. She realised that people were more familiar with Hindustani music, while Karnatik largely flew under the radar. She felt a strong need to make ragas reach the masses, she recalls. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The album features Jyotsna on violin, Shadrach Solomon on keys, and N Amruth on mridangam and khanjira.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nostalgia is a strong theme. ‘Haunting Thoughts’ was created in memory of her mother as she dearly missed her and the house she lived in. And the song ‘Temple Island’ is inspired by the peaceful kalyani raga and her memories of kalyani or temple stepwell ponds. </p>.Kacheri Gang: Trio fusing classical styles to create new sound.<p class="bodytext">Jyotsna has now teamed up with Vishak Ramprasad, a keyboard player and music composer, and Amoghavarsha, a Bengaluru-based drummer and percussionist. They will be part of the new Jyotsna Karnatik Jazz Trio.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The group will perform in Bengaluru on May 2 to mark the album’s re-launch. While the western drums lend the music the jazz sound, Amoghavarsha will also play the morsing and the cajon, replacing the mridangam and khanjira.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jyotsna grew up in a traditional South Indian family in Bengaluru. Her mother Rathna Srikantiah, a Karnatik vocalist, was her first guru. By age seven, she was playing and improvising on the violin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She performed her first concert at the age of nine, and started undergoing formal training at age 10 under the legendary seven-stringed violinist R R Keshavamurthy. She then began playing for films and has worked with the likes of film composers Ilaiyaraaja and Hamsalekha.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A pathologist by education, she moved to London in 2004 along with her husband. Though initially reluctant, within a year she began receiving invites to perform and was soon touring across Europe. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Her goal is to find a larger audience for Karnatik-jazz fusion. The re-release of ‘Bangalore Dreams’ is one step in that direction, she points out. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The album is available on all streaming platforms.</p>