#4941, New Sounds Live: Ganavya at National Sawdust
Ganavya is a multidisciplinary creator, vocalist, double-bassist, soundsmith, and wordsmith. Trained as an improviser, scholar, dancer, and multi-instrumentalist, she maintains an inner library of “spi/ritual” blueprints offered to her by an intergenerational constellation of collaborators, continuously anchoring her practice in pasts, presents and, futures. Much of her childhood was on the pilgrimage trail, learning the storytelling art form of harikathā and singing poetry that critiques hierarchal social structures.
Listen to a live set from the Tamil Nadu-raised and New York-born vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer, Ganavya, recorded live at National Sawdust in Oct. 2024 along with guest collaborators and plenty of audience participation. During the course of her set, she performs a song based on a work by Sheila Chandra, poetry by the late Marcellus Williams, a setting of 13th Century Sufi text, and music by Bollywood film composer, A.R. Rahman, done up "spi/ritual" jazz style. There's also a special guest collaboration with New York-based Catalan songwriter and guitarist Lau Noah. Plus, preview music from her 2024 record, Daughter of a Temple, featuring pianist/composer Vijay Iyer and saxophonist/composer Immanuel Wilkins.
Ganavya is a co-founder of the non-hierarchical We Have Voice Collective. Close collaborators include Rajna Swaminathan, Shabaka Hutchings, esperanza spalding (who helped bring into final form an upcoming album titled Daughter of a Temple), and multiple productions as composer and soloist with Peter Sellars. In movement, her most cherished teachers include Michael Schumacher. Her graduate degrees in music are from Berklee College of Music (contemporary performance) UCLA (ethnomusicology) and Harvard University (Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry). [National Sawdust Program Notes.]
As a writer, ganavya was contributing writer for elder Wayne Shorter’s opera Iphigenia, and one of her favorite published essays so far is found in John Zorn’s Arcana: Musicians on Music IX, titled “shards of ether.” "She’s uncomfortable listing every person she’s worked with, but asks the reader to trust that it takes a village" (Joe's Pub program notes). -Caryn Havlik
ARTIST: Esperanza Spalding, ft. Ganavya
WORK: formwela 2 [1:10]
RECORDING: Songwrights Apothecary Lab
SOURCE: http://songwrightsapothecarylab.com
INFO: Available at Spotify, YouTube, AppleMusic
ARTIST: Ganavya, Christopher Pattishall, Max Ridley
WORK: Ami Pana [3:45]
RECORDING: Live, at National Sawdust, Oct. 3, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ganavya, Christopher Pattishall, Max Ridley
WORK: A.R. Rahman: Oh Raaya [7:56]
RECORDING: Live, at National Sawdust, Oct. 3, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ganavya, Christopher Pattishall, Max Ridley
WORK: Never so lonely (Sheila Chandra) [6:03]
RECORDING: Live, at National Sawdust, Oct. 3, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ganavya, Christopher Pattishall, Max Ridley
WORK: Not a burden (text by Marcellus Williams) [7:24]
RECORDING: Live, at National Sawdust, Oct. 3, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ganavya, feat. Vijay Iyer & Immanuel Wilkins
WORK: Om Supreme [5:52]
RECORDING: Daughter of a Temple
SOURCE: Leiter Label, due Nov. 15
INFO: https://ltr.lnk.to/Muditha
ARTIST: Ganavya, Christopher Pattishall, Max Ridley
WORK: Pasayadan [5:46]
RECORDING: Live, at National Sawdust, Oct. 3, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ganavya and Lau Noah
WORK: Blue Braid [4:52]
RECORDING: Live, at National Sawdust, Oct. 3, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com
