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Charu Suri

Formed in the spring of 2018, the trio consists of Charu Suri on the piano, J. Brunka on the double bass, and Jay O'Brien on the drums. The ensemble has received praise for its renditions of standards and original music. Its debut album, "Lollipops for Breakfast," with original music composed by Suri, debuts soon.

Charu Suri has been playing the piano since the age of five, and won an international piano competition at the age of 15. She has a Piano Performance certificate from Princeton University, where she received her undergraduate degree, and a Master’s in Music from the Manhattan School of Music.

Her piece for chamber orchestra, “The Shield of Achilles” was performed by the Princeton University Chamber Ensemble. As part of an atelier workshop with Toni Morrison at Princeton, two of her original pieces were performed by a chamber ensemble, along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and double bass player Edgar Meyer.

Awards

Stanley G. Seeger Award from Princeton University Trinity College of Music Fellowship, London, U.K.


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8
Album Review

Charu Suri: Rags & Ragas

Read "Rags & Ragas" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


To paraphrase an old saying: You can take the girl (geographically) away from the raga, but you cannot take the raga away from the girl... Pianist Chatu Suri was born in India, where the raga holds sway, and she listened to the ragas her father played on the radio. But she left her homeland and has lived in four continents. New York, at this writing, is her current home. But the raga has stayed with her, on her ...

7
Album Review

Charu Suri: Raga Rag No. 1 (Bhimpalas)

Read "Raga Rag No. 1 (Bhimpalas)" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Pianist Charu Suri was raised in Chennai, India, a place that influenced her artistry. New Orleans, another of her influences, lies a hemisphere away. A transplant from India to the United States, Suri brought the musical roots of Hindustani (North Indian) music to her new home. When she found her way to the Big Easy, she took in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the marriage between the New Orlean sound and Indian raga began. “Raga Rag ...

12
Album Review

Charu Suri: Ragas & Waltzes

Read "Ragas & Waltzes" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Pianist Charu Suri's father was a CEO of a record label. Suri was born in India, and has lived in four continents. Her father's profession meant that slews of records were available for her young musical ears. Her piano training was initially classical. Then, as so often happens, jazz stepped in, took a chair, and slid his pork pie hat across the table at her and smiled. This jazz encounter came about in 2018; Suri was no longer listening to ...

36
Under the Radar

Charu Suri: The Jazz Raga

Read "Charu Suri: The Jazz Raga" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


The Roots of Indo-JazzJazz and Indian ragas share common ground in their traditional use of improvisation. They are often talked about in compatible terms, but Ravi Shankar, for one, did not believe that ragas could be compared to jazz improvisation. Spontaneous creation in jazz differs from the complex rhythmic structural patterns of Indian improvisation. Shankar became the embodiment of non-western music in the 1960s. Jazz enthusiasts filled his audiences, quickly adapting techniques without any serious degree of due diligence. Nevertheless, ...

8
Album Review

Charu Suri: The Book of Ragas Volume II

Read "The Book of Ragas Volume II" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


New sounds in jazz often come from countries other than America, where the music was born. Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto introduced the lilting rhythms of Brazil; the prolific pianist/bandleader Satoko Fujii brings an avant-Japanese frame of mind to the music, and .numerous Scandinavian artists--Jan Garbarek, Trygve Seim, Tord Gustavsen and the Marcin Wasilewski Trio--have introduced a Nordic cool sound. And then there is India, bringing violinists Arun Ramamurthy, Trina Basu and cellist Amali Premawardhana to mind, ...

7
Album Review

Charu Suri: The Book Of Ragas

Read "The Book Of Ragas" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Charu Suri takes piano jazz and combines it with the sounds of her native India on The Book Of Ragas. The set is a freshening of the format, with vocalist Apoorva Mudgal, a performer of ghazals (lyric poems) and Sufi music, contributing. Suri first recording, 2019's Lollipops For For Breakfast (Amala Records), took its inspiration, in part (the title tune) from her daughter's unconventional first meal of the day request. It also offered up a beautiful cover of ...

4
Album Review

Charu Suri: Lollipops for Breakfast

Read "Lollipops for Breakfast" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


It is a funny word, “lollipop." A melodious roll of the tongue terminated by two percussive “P" sounds separated by one puff of air, ended by another. A musical word, occasionally showing up as an integral part of a song: “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows," Leslie Gore's 1963 pop hit; 1958's “Lollipop" by the Chordettes; 1956's “My Boy Lollipop" from Barbie Gayle; “My Girl Lollipop," a 1982 recording by the group Bad Manners; and not forgetting “On The Good Ship Lollipop," ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Raga Rag No. 1...

Amala Records
2023

buy

Rags & Ragas

Self Produced
2023

buy

Ragas & Waltzes

Amala Records
2022

buy

The Book of Ragas...

Amala Records
2021

buy

The Book Of Ragas

Amala Records
2019

buy

Aaj Rang Hai

From: The Book of Ragas Volume II
By Charu Suri

Quijingue Impressions

From: Quijingue Impressions
By Charu Suri

Raga Kalyani

From: The Book Of Ragas
By Charu Suri

Seasons

From: New American Songbook
By Charu Suri

Raag Bhimpalasi (Afternoon) from

From: The Book Of Ragas
By Charu Suri

Raga Tala

From: Lollipops for Breakfast
By Charu Suri

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