Indo-Jazz Group Natraj Celebrates 25 Years
with Show at Regattabar

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Natraj
Regattabar
Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02138
Wednesday, July 25
7:30PM
$18
617-395-7757
www.regattabarjazz.com
All ages welcome.
Validated parking.

On Wednesday, July 25, the world-jazz ensemble Natraj celebrates a major milestone, its 25th anniversary, with a program in New England’s premier jazz venue, the Regattabar in Harvard Square, Cambridge. Chennai-based Indian percussion virtuoso, T. K. Ramakrishnan, joins Natraj in a guest appearance on mridangam and solkattu. We recently talked to Natraj leader, saxophonist and composer Phil Scarff. Here are some excerpts from that interview.

Lokvani: Twenty-five years playing music together is quite an accomplishment. What are some of the highlights?
Scarff: We’ve had opportunities to play some major venues around the world, such as India’s JazzYatra in Mumbai and the Prayojana Festival in Bengaluru and Chennai, as well as Ghana’s PANAFEST. We’ve toured the US and Canada, playing concerts, colleges, festivals, and jazz clubs. Natraj has collaborated with top international and New England based musicians and dancers, and we’ve released four CDs acclaimed in the international music press.

Lokvani: What will you be playing at the Regattabar, and how will you be working with guest percussionist T. K. Ramakrishnan?
Scarff: T. K. Ramakrishnan has performed with Natraj quite a few times over the last 15 years, both in Boston and India, and he is co-composer of several pieces in Natraj’s repertoire. We’ll be playing some of those pieces, featuring intricate South Indian rhythms, melodious North Indian ragas, and West African and jazz influences. Ramakrishnan will be featured on mridangam, and he’ll also be weaving rhythmic recitation or solkattu into some of the pieces.

Lokvani: Tell us about the band and your current line-up.
Scarff: Natraj started as a trio, and the three founding members are still in the band. All three will be at the Regattabar -- Jerry Leake on tabla and multipercussion, Mike Rivard on string bass, and I’ll be playing saxophone. Soon after we formed, we grew to a quintet. Our newest member, Bertram Lehmann, who joined over 17 years ago, will play drums and percussion, and long-time Natraj collaborator, Rohan Gregory will be featured on violin and viola.

Lokvani: Natraj has worked with many Indian classical and West African artists, including luminaries like Chitravina Ravikiran, Kadri Gopalnath, Trichy Sankaran, Shashank, and Ronu Majumdar. You work with many local artists, too. We caught your recent concert at Amazing Things in Framingham, featuring Carnatic vocalist Deepti Navaratna, which was quite impressive! The music making was a wide-ranging alchemy of the traditional and the contemporary, with some adventurous improvisation. From Carnatic fare “Sri Jagadeeswari,” to the unstructured expanse of Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” to a multi-percussive explosion in the original West African based “The Ride,” the concert explored exciting new possibilities in world-jazz fusion. How was it working with Deepti and incorporating Carnatic voice into the band’s sound?
Scarff: Deepti Navaratna is quite a versatile musician, who skillfully and coolly straddles classical Carnatic and contemporary musics. She works with us on a very intuitive level and comfortably melds Indian influence with modern jazz. Her music is deeply rooted in tradition, but she is not afraid to experiment. I think her voice blends wonderfully with the saxophone and the rest of the band.

Lokvani: The audience at Amazing Things was very enthusiastic and supportive, and really enjoyed Natraj’s adventurous explorations. Good luck with the show at the Regattabar on July 25!

To find out more about Natraj, visit www.natrajmusic.com; for more about Phil Scarff visit www.philscarff.com; CDs are available at www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Natraj, www.windjam.com/artists/natraj/index.shtml, and www.cdbaby.com/Artist/PhilScarff.

Photo credits: Eric Antoniou, Kateryna Odyntsova

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