Indian-American percussionist and composer Rohan Krishnamurthy has staked out fertile soil where ancient Carnatic musical forms flow into the improvisational fields of jazz. A disciple of the legendary Indian percussion maestro Sri. Guruvayur Dorai, with whom he studied in Chennai, India, Krishnamurthy has developed a hybrid kit that encompasses a jazz/funk drum set and the South Indian mridangam drum. Requiring both hand and stick techniques, the self-designed kit is at the center of The Alaya Project, an Indo-jazz-funk experiment with world-jazz luminaries Prasant Radhakrishnan (saxophone) and Colin Hogan (keyboard/accordion). Built over two decades of friendship, dialogue and musical immersion across genres and continents, The Alaya Project features driving grooves, soulful ragas, melodic improvisation and a jazz-infused harmonic foundation embodying the permanence of a changing soundscape. This performance features the luminous vocals of Roopa Mahadevan, a leading Indian classical and cross-over vocalist from the Bay Area.

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