Society for Indo-American Arts launches with a bang
The Society for Indo-American Arts, a new nonprofit organization that promotes masters of world music in Houston, presents the first program of its inaugural season Friday at MATCH.
Founder Hari Dayal, who previously directed the IndoAmerican Association, says the society’s 2020 season consists of eight shows, at various venues, through late November.
It all starts with, well, a bang. “Three Generations of World of Percussion” stars a virtuoso family known for its mastery of south Indian classical Carnatic music, a style built on complex patterns and rhythmic, tonguetrilling voice work.
“We belong to funk,” V. Selvaganesh explains in a video interview with New York University jazz studies professor David Schroeder.
His father, Vikku Vinayakram, popularized the clay-pot instrument known as the ghatam as a co-founder of the jazzworld fusion group Shakti in the 1970s with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. Selvaganesh, who plays a hybrid drum kit, picked up the mantle and toured with McLaughlin’s subsequent group Remember Shakti for almost 11 years. He also has collaborated with Swedish bassist Jonas Hellborg and composed film scores.
The new generation has a great voice in Selvaganesh’s son, Swaminathan Selvaganesh, a leading performer of the small, hand-held kanjira and the percussive vocal tradition konakkol. Vinayakram’s other son, Umashankar, also a renowned ghatam player, and veteran touring musician A. Ganesan on morsing, or jaw harp, round out his band, Panchakshara.
That’s a powerful start, and Dayal plans to keep the excitement high with the rest of SIA’s season. Here’s how it unfolds.
March 6: Three Generations of the World of Percussion. 8 p.m., MATCH, 3400 Main; $30-$50; 713-521-4533, matchouston.org March 14: Ghazal Ka Filmi Safar.
Renowned Ghazal singer Radhika Chopra and her musicians perform 50 years’ worth of Ghazals from films in a program commissioned for Houston. Stafford Centre, 10505 Cash, Stafford
May 10: Songs of the Bhakti
and Sant Tradition. The Riyaaz Qawwali ensemble performs the songs of philosophers and poets who shaped devotional music across India and Pakistan. 6 p.m., Stafford Centre
June 13: A Tribute to the Nightingale of India — Lata
Mangeshkar. A multimedia production featuring narrator Salim Arif with four singers and six musicians. 8 p.m., Stafford Centre
Sept. 19: Songs of Benaras
and Strings of Calcutta .A commissioned concert that combines sounds from two jubs of Hindustani classical music. 8 p.m., MATCH
Oct. 11: L. Shankar, Neel Agrawal and S. Selvaganesh.
Vinayakram’s son returns with master violinist L. Shankar, another co-founder of Shakti who famously introduced a 10-string double violin and is appearing in Houston for the first time. 6 p.m., MATCH
Oct. 18: Aditya Prakash
Ensemble. An award-winning, American-born Indian classical vocalist known for his powerful, emotive voice performs Carnatic music with a broad fusion of other influences. 6 p.m., MATCH
Nov. 21: Gypsy Raga. Oliver Rajamani, who has performed with the Gipsy Kings, Willie Nelson and many others, brings his musical history of the Romani (Gypsy) people, showcasing master musicians on Indian instruments, Middle Eastern oud, Spanish flamenco guitar, Eastern European Gypsy accordion and world percussion. 8 p.m., Stafford Centre
Season tickets are $100-$400; 832-231-3086, siaarts.org.