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Avataar: Petal
by Chris M. Slawecki
While growing up in the Northern Ontario mining town of Sunbury, he was known as Sam." But in his early twenties, Sundar Viswanathan reconnected with his Indian name and heritage, and, through several conservatory courses spanning North Indian classical to Turkish maquam music, dove deeply into his Indian musical roots as a saxophonist and composer. I had to transcribe flute and sitar improvisations as part of class assignments. The vocabulary got into the language of my own writing," ...
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by James Nadal
A simplified definition of classical Indian music can be characterized as Hindustani from the north, and Carnatic from the south. Though both are based on the raga system of melodic scales, Hindustani's structure is open to improvisation, whereas Carnatic is more scientific and devotional in its approach. Saxophonist Sundar Viswanathan, although a longtime resident of Canada, was born in India, and has juxtaposed his native music with a pliable jazz awareness into Petal, his latest project with Avataar.
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