ganavya

The singer whose work feels like a prayer", was the headline in the New York Times. The multi-instrumentalist ganavya was born in New York, but grew up in Tamil Nadu (India). With no traditional schooling, she earned degrees from Berklee College of Music, UCLA (ethnomusicology) and Harvard, among others. With her voice alone, she is able to create a transcendent intimacy. She does this unmistakably with reference to Alice Coltrane. For ganavya has really explored how this foremother of spiritual jazz moves through the music, meandering freely and yet full of clarity. As a result, she has ritualized much of her own music, but has always kept the boundaries fluid and open. Her album "Daughter of the Temple", with an 18-minute variation on the John Coltrane classic "A Love Supreme" as its finale, was recorded in a meditative atmosphere that must have been an intense experience for her fellow musicians, from Esperanza Spalding to Shabaka and Vijay Iyer - foot-washing included. "I sing because I truly believe that I will die if I don't," says ganavya.