The newly formed Tamil Jazz Collective brings their blend of Carnatic and Jazz standards to Mumbai’s shores for the India International Music Week. We speak with founder Harini Iyer on walking the tightrope
(From left) Shylu Ravindran, Harini Iyer, and Sahib Singh during a performance. Pic Courtesy/YouTube
Most artistes are wanderers, they say. Harini Iyer knows it better. “I get bored easily. Even when I was learning Carnatic music, I was interested in pop and R&B,” the Berklee-University alumna admits. In 2024, she founded the Tamil Jazz Collective. Since then, the rotating collective has already hit the festival circuit with recent performances at the Bengaluru Hubba, to their performance at the India International Music Week (IIMW) today.
Easy Wanderlings. Pic courtesy/@easywanderlings
The journey began at home in Chennai. With her mom performing katha kalakshepams, being a performer was part of the journey. Jazz found its way into her work during her academic years in America, singing at Open Mics. For someone who’d try to escape towards pop music, she found herself singing pop and R&B motifs in Carnatic swarams. In 2021, during a workshop in Kerala, she transcribed her first jazz standard, Ella Fitzgerald’s Misty, into Tamil. In 2024, her take on Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, with a mridangam replacing the drums, caught the viral wave online. Incidentally, lore has it that the Brubeck Quartet was inspired by Carnatic scales during their visit to Chennai in the 1970s.
Harini Iyer
While the scales and musical motifs can find similarity — ‘Both genres allow for improvisation within the standard form,’ she says — critics abound. Iyer admits, “It began as an exercise for myself to see how the same musical motif can sound different in another language.” With a rotating band featuring Sahib Singh and Shylu Ravindran of the fusion band Jatayu, the collective is on to complex experimentations. Their upcoming album will see a Tamil take on Fitzgerald’s Undecided, and a Chet Baker track as well. That’s a classic, we’d say.
Australian voices in town
The Aussies are back in town; this time, without Pat Cummins. After the success of Diljit Dosanjh’s Aura tour of Australia, a delegation from the Australian music industry led by Sounds Australia will make their mark at the IIMW.
Reuben de Melo
Supported by the Australian Consulate General in Mumbai and the Victorian Music Development Office, the programme will also showcase Australian artists with Indian heritage. Milan Ring and Reuben De Melo will be among the contemporary performers.
“We are delighted to support an Australian presence at India IIMW. This engagement will be a powerful platform to showcase the Australian music ecosystem, build networks and explore bilateral opportunities,” shared the Australian Consul-General in India, Paul Murphy.
On Today; 10 pm; January 12, 11 am onwards (IIMW)
At antiSOCIAL, Todi Mill, Lower Parel.
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Entry Rs 1500 onwards
Also catch
1.Easy Wanderlings
ON Today; 11 pm
2. Ro Maiti
ON Today; 9 pm
3. J-Silk
ON February 12; 7 pm
4. Tejas
ON February 12; 8 pm
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