NANDI…

A space not only to immerse in music but also to reflect upon musical experiences.

Nandi the Indo-European Jazz band started in 2015 by Suresh Vaidyanathan, a prolific multi percussionist from Chennai along with Bassist Pascal Lovergne and Pianist Stefan Orins both hailing from Lille in North France brings the two genres of Indian classical and European Jazz closer, where commonalities are identified and exclusivities are exchanged to give birth to aesthetic expressions of Ragas and Talas.
 
Suresh Vaidyanathan           Indian Percussion-Ghatam, Kanjira, Morsing, Konnakol, Cajon
Pascal Lovergne                   Bass
Stefan Orins                          Piano
Amith Nadig                          Flute
Matthias Schriefl                  Trumpet / Flug Horn
Pramath Kiran                      Drums
 
Unrestrained improvisation in both genres rules the music of NANDI yet with utmost reverence to their sentiments and conventionalities. The unheard musical scales called Ragas and an infinite volume of rhythmic structures out of the Indian background with natural creativity are blended into the blue jazzy ornamentation of harmonics, chord progressions and bass lines. All musicians enjoy their respective spaces and bring the best of their creativity and expression.
 
In 2016 Nandi recorded its first album ‘Mylapore’ the title a tribute the holy neighborhood of Chennai where Suresh lives, which is enjoying raving success with reviews and accreditations from Magazines and Jazz musicians and institutions. Nandi has performed in many parts of Europe and India with a steady fan following.
 
Suresh Vaidyanathan is a Ghatam and multi-percussion artiste internationally acclaimed and respected for his in-depth knowledge of Indian rhythm, melody and technical supremacy in percussion. He has been hailed as the ‘Pele of Percussion’, ‘Inimitable Maverick on Clay pot’ and ‘Power house Rock star’ by reviewers and Critics. Trained by illustrious musicians, Suresh has gained pre-eminence with his unique fingering techniques, sound modulation and aesthetic accompaniment and is credited with revolutionizing the art of playing ghatam through his aesthetic and energetic style in many genres besides South Indian Carnatic. A Guinness Book of World Records holder for longest Healing concert Participation, Suresh has been performing regularly with reputed Jazz groups worldwide. With more than three decades of experience in world music Suresh is now a prolific jazz composer with the Indian flavor and has collaborated with many Jazz musicians to pen and arrange new age compositions. He has formed a global jazz band titled ‘NANDI’ featuring distinguished musicians from East and West. Suresh has recorded for Pop legend Paul Simon for his Album ‘So beautiful or so what!’
 
Pascal Lovergne started playing bass at the of sixteen, and studied in the jazz class of CNR de Lille with Yves Torchinsky ,Gérard Marais and Jean-François Canappe obtainig the then called ‘médaille d’or’ in 1998. Since then he has been playing a lot of styles ranging from jazz to pop , playing on stage or in the studio with Louis Arti , L’ensemble de Guitares de Gérard Marais, the Simon Fache big backing band, la compagnie du Tire Laine, The Bortsch Orchestra, Calvin Owens ,Tichot, Nandi, Ghatam Suresh’s Mrittika Vhaibhabam. Pascal visited India first as a seeker of Indian Rhythmic language in 2013 and since then has been learning the art of Konnakkol from Suresh with whom he jointly formed the Jazz Band along with Pianist Stefan Orins.

Stefan Orins, studied jazz with Jean-Francois Canape, Yves Torchinsky, Cyrille Wambergue, Gerard Marais, Guy Gilbert, he also follows Master-Classes under Riccardo Del Fra, Tommy Smith, Dominique Pifarely, Bojan Z, the John Abercrombie/ Joe LaBarbera / Hein Van de Geyn Trio, Sophia Domancich, Helene Labarriere, Stefano Di Battista ... Between 1997 and 2000, he studied classical piano with Pierre N’guyen and during the period 2006 to 2009, with Caroline Wrobel Siesse. Stefan Orins is a member of Muzzix, Muzzix is a collective composed of 30 musicians, based in Lille, in activity since the end of the nineties (initially as two structures, le crime et Circum). Stefan is an invaluable member of Nandi from foundation and has been experiencing the Indian melodic and rhythmic zest. He has played in France, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Sweden, Egypt, Marocco, Russia, Ukraine and Austria.
 
Amith Nadig, a virtuous flute player, hailing from a family of musicians and widely acclaimed as child prodigy has been performing with the sub-continent’s best classical musicians. Amith has toured many countries and has performed on all prestigious festivals all over India and abroad for more than two decades. He effortlessly adapts his playing to different genres of music including Karnatic, Hindustani, Jazz, Fusion etc. which makes him a very sought after flautist today.

Amith has had the honor of being the only Indian to have been invited to perform at the Dusseldorf Church Organ Festival and Jazz Art Festival in 2016.
However, the tackling with his own and complex culture was not satisfying enough for Amith Nadig musical search. He also plays among others, Samba, Blues and Mambo pieces and he even yodels in an Indian way. In May 2017, Amith performed in Europe’s biggest jazz Festival at Germany as part of Jazz Fruhling. Apart from being a flutist, Amith is also a software lead balancing both his career and passion by bringing nothing but excellence.
 
Matthias Schriefl, hailing from the Alps in Maria Rain studied in Cologne and Amsterdam. Since 2006 he has been organizing the concert series Jazz-O-Rama at the Artheater Köln. From 2008 to 2010, he toured with his band Shreefpunk as the "Rising Star" of the European Concert Hall Organization through the major concert halls of Europe. After that he experimented mainly with alpine music. In 2012, he released the multi-award-winning album Six, Alps & Jazz on ACT's Young German Jazz series. This is followed until today regularly by new CD recordings with various bands in which he as a musician and composer to his respective fellow musicians like "tailor made" his pieces on the body.

Schriefl lives in Cologne and partly in the Allgäu. His musical curiosity inspires him again and again on longer study trips to India and stays in African and South American countries, where he deals with various musical traditions. In 2016, his versatile involvement paid off with the World Music Prize RUTH in Rudolstadt. He knows and loves big stages and the wide world, but engages himself more to bring jazz to small, rural venues regularly.
 
Pramath Kiran, a well know percussionist from South India hails from a family of art connoisseurs. His musical carrier took off at a young age, trained in Indian Classical music.
Pramath learnt Tabla (Hindustani style) and later he was trained to play Morsing (Jaws harp) in traditional Carnatic style. Pramath Kiran is known for his traditional and intricate style of playing these instruments with a blend of modern accompaniment techniques.

He extended his musical horizons in world music endeavors by playing several world percussions like Djembe, Congas and Cajon. Pramath became the foremost artist from South India to introduce Afro Cuban percussions and rhythm structures into traditional Carnatic style. Pramath Kiran has collaborated with several world renowned musicians in several music festivals across India and globally. As a sought after percussionist Pramath has worked as a session artist in scoring film music as a rhythm programmer and live percussion composer. Pramath Kiran is the founder member of ‘Layatharanga’ one of India's top world music bands featuring Indian and world percussion.

He has performed and recorded with several Jazz musicians and has toured several countries like UK, USA, Australia, Europe, Singapore, Middle East and many more.