Selvaganesh Vinayakram

In 2013, Chicago’s World Music Festival opted to level up with the kind of performance that barely existed otherwise in the United States—a 14-hour marathon of both Carnatic and Hindustani classical music, with the sun setting and rising again through the world’s largest Tiffany dome. The event, Ragamala, has since become a mainstay of World Music Festival, drawing several thousand people each year. Many ragas are intended to be played during certain parts of the day, meaning they often cannot be included during concerts in more traditional settings. Ragamala’s design allows it to feature a greater repertoire of works, both because of its expansive timeframe and its mix of Hindustani and Carnatic musicians. For the first time, in a special eight-hour presentation that runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Ragamala comes to Knoxville.

Selvaganesh Vinayakram is one of the world’s leading players of the kanjira, a handheld Indian frame drum embedded with jingles that allow it to work as a more nuanced tambourine. Vinayakram was born into a lineage of rhythm; his father is Vikku Vinayakram, the percussion master who was in both Shakti and Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum. Like his father, Selvaganesh is an avid collaborator, having worked with the likes of Zakir Hussain and musicians from Sweden and the United States. His collaborative zeal comes into focus during Ragamala at Big Ears, where he will lead a series of Carnatic percussion solos, duos, and trios with Praveen Narayan and Swaminathan Selvaganesh.

Selvaganesh Vinayakram (Kanjira, Konnakol) (Carnatic rhythms ensemble & solos w/ Swaminathan and Praveen) (45 min)