Akshay Anantapadmanabhan Explained

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan
Nationality:	Indian
Occupation:	Musician
Mridangam artist

Akshay Anantapadmanabhan is an carnatic mridangam artist, composer and multi-percussionist.^[1]

Musical career

In unique demonstrations of South Indian percussion, he has collaborated with rock, Latin jazz, American jazz, Hindustani, and jazz performers. He is an A-Grade artist of All India Radio, Chennai and a key component of the popular Indian Classical fusion groups "Carnatic 2.0 Reloaded" and "The Thayir Sadam Project." In his most recent solo project, "Re-imagining Indian Rhythms," Akshay explores the frontiers of Indian rhythms by fusing digital loopers and interactive graphics with traditional instruments like the mridangam, kanjira, konnakol, and bharathanatyam.^[2] He has given master lectures at NYUAD (Abu Dhabi), NYU, and CUNY (New York) on an introduction to Konnakol and Indian rhythm.^{[3] [4]}

Discography

• "Mylapore-Rap" In 2010, Akshay created a contemporary music video using ‘Konnakol’ (Indian vocal percussion) and re-contextualizing it as a hip-hop/rap genre.^[5]
• "Konnakol Playhouse" He worked with over 1000 kids across Bangalore, India to create a contemporary music video in 2010.^[6]
• "His Father's Voice" He performed mridangam in several tracks, including a solo track ‘Weapons of Love,’ for this feature film premiered in Hollywood in 2019.^[7]
• "Re-Imagining Indian Rhythms" In this avant-garde solo production, He focuses on the ideas of Indian rhythm that can be connected to ideas of Indian culture.^[8]

Awards

• Ustad Bismillah khan yuva puraskar 2023 from the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Anand . Lakshmi . Akshay Anantpadmanabhan — at home in any genre . . en-IN . 21 May 2020.
2. Web site: His Father's Voice - Rotten Tomatoes . www.rottentomatoes.com . en . 19 April 2019.
3. Web site: Akshay Anantapadmanabhan – Cross-Disciplinary and multicultural perspectives on Musical Rhythm . wp.nyu.edu . New York University.
4. Web site: These musicians got Mylapore hip-hop to Carnatic music . . 31 August 2019.
5. Web site: Paitandy . Priyadarshini . Check out Carnatic 2.0's new video 'Mylapore Rap' . . en-IN . 29 August 2019.
6. Web site: Konnakol Playhouse: Teaching rhythm in fun way . . 10 May 2019.
7. Web site: Rao . Abhirami . 'His Father's Voice': A story of life, love and the arts . . en-IN . 27 June 2019.
8. Web site: Indian Music Experience (IME) Workshop . ismir2022.ismir.net.
9. Web site: Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for the year 2023 .