Karnatik music and jazz meet for an engaging and dynamic dialogue.
Grand Performances presents a double-bill at California Plaza on Saturday, June 11, 2022 (6pm-10pm) featuring:
Aditya Prakash, a Los Angeles based award-winning vocalist known for his powerful and emotive voice, is one of the foremost virtuosos of Karnatik music.
Nick Smith, an alumnus of Berklee College of Music and the Jay Leno Tonight Show Band, is a veteran jazz pianist who has worked with Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Billy Higgins and many more.
Aditya Prakash, a Los Angeles based award-winning vocalist known for his powerful and emotive voice, is one of the foremost virtuosos of Karnatik music.
At only 16 years of age, he became one of the youngest musicians ever to tour and perform with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, accompanying him to such prestigious stages as Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and Disney Concert Hall.
Aditya has collaborated with a diverse range of innovative artists, including sitarist Anoushka Shankar; jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan; electronic experimental artist Karsh Kale, and the acclaimed dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. Aditya founded the eclectic music group, Aditya Prakash Ensemble, which creates a space for dialogue between Karnatik and jazz. The Ensemble’s most recent album, “Diaspora Kid,” garnered praise from Songlines, KCRW and was featured in the top 15 albums on the Transglobal World Music Chart in May 2020.
Recently, Aditya produced and composed the musical score for the NEFA awarded production – “She’s Auspicious” by Mythili Prakash. One of Aditya’s produced songs for the album “HOME,” by Sushma Soma, was selected to be featured on BBC at the Earthshot Awards. Aditya’s current focus in production and composition lies in pushing boundaries within the “classical” tradition.
Aditya Prakash Ensemble
… featuring …
Jonah Levine - keys
Owen Clapp - bass
Jake Jamieson - drums
Hitomi Oba - sax and flute
Megan Shung - violin
Rohan Krishnamurthy - percussion
https://www.instagram.com/adityaprakashmusic/
Nick Smith, well known as a Jazz Pianist, is also skilled at several other musical genres including Latin, Rhythm & Blues, Rock, and Country. His imposing talent in diverse musical environments reflects Nick’s passion for excellence and his mastery of all aspects of his craft, from performing to composing to producing. Nick is devoted to providing performances that adhere to the correct form of the composition with persistently lyrical, stratospheric comping.
A partial list of artists that Nick has performed with includes Najee, Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Kenny Garrett, Michel Polnareff, Kirk Whalum, Marcus Miller, Gary Bartz, Bill Summers, George Duke, Billy Higgins, and Eddie Harris. An alumnus of Berklee College of Music, Nick was a member of the Jay Leno Tonight Show Band.