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Natraj

Natraj seamlessly melds the classical music of India, traditional music from West Africa, and contemporary jazz to create its own unique and infectious style. Hard-driving African grooves and graceful Indian ragas meet in the band’s expansive jazz conception. Selected as Boston’s Best Jazz Band by the Improper Bostonian and nominated Best World Music Act in the Boston Music Awards, Natraj captivates and excites audiences with exotic textures, accessible melodies, and rhythmic energy.

Natraj has delighted listeners throughout the US, Canada, India, and West Africa since 1987. Appearances include India’s JazzYatra and Prayojana International Music Festival; Ghana’s PANAFEST; the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; the Guelph Jazz Festival, Guelph, Canada; and The Boston Globe Jazz and Blues Festival. Natraj has performed with icons of Indian classical music including Kadri Gopalnath, Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Shashank, Ronu Majumdar, and Trichy Sankaran, as well as younger masters like Aditya Kalyanpur and Prasanna.

Natraj has released four CDs to acclaim in the international press and airplay worldwide. Numerous radio and TV appearances include featured segments on the USA nationally syndicated program, The World (PRI/BBC/WGBH-FM); Doordarshan (Indian National TV); Maine Things Considered (Maine Public Radio, USA); South Asian Newsweek (CFMT-TV, Toronto); and Radio Mid-Day (Mumbai, India).

Natraj features the raga-influenced soprano saxophone of Phil Scarff; the emotive inflections of ECM recording artist and violist Mat Maneri; the warm, nimble solidity of bassist Mike Rivard; the tabla and multipercussion mastery of Jerry Leake; and high-energy groove of drummer Bertram Lehmann.

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Album Review

Natraj: Deccan Dance

Read "Deccan Dance" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Jazz naturally shares much in common with the music of India and Africa. Ragas emphasize improvisation around a harmonic structure; the music of West Africa relies upon the superimposition of complementary rhythms. Lately there's been a dramatic recognition of that fact in Boston, with groups like Antigravity and Natraj drawing from both Eastern and Western traditions. On its third release, Deccan Dance, Natraj somehow manages to make a raga sound jazzy and yet at the same time tribal. The two ...

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“Natraj blends complex tempos and traditions with graceful, unforced virtuosity… a hypnotic, symbiotic tapestry. Fusion is rarely this deep and exotic yet accessible… discover a new world here.” - The Boston Globe

“Technical excellence and sensitive musicianship transcend national and cultural boundaries, and there is clearly an abundance of both on this recording… Compares favorably with Shakti... Every performer displays both a melodic and technical flair… The performances on this album are everywhere excellent.” - Cadence

“[This] Boston group doesn’t simply draw on Indian influences some of the time... it specializes in a seamless blend of jazz and Indian music... [Natraj] embraces both Western and Indian instruments… delightfully unconventional.” - Jazziz

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Song of the Swan

Galloping Goat
2008

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Deccan Dance

Galloping Goat
1999

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