Composer Lydian Nadhaswaram’s new album marks the maturity of a prodigal talent that seems to have come of age
Lydian Nadhaswaram at his piano during a performance
Having started his musical journey as a two-year-old, Lydian Nadhaswaram completed his Grade-8 piano levels at Trinity College of Music at the tender age of 10. The prodigy went on to study the piano further at AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory in Chennai before winning the CBS The World’s Best title in 2019. Now, at 16, his first independent jazz album, Chromatic Grammatic — which launched on July 12 — demonstrates the maturity of his prodigal years.
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He tells us, “There are 12 keys in music, and every song in the album is performed to one key.” It was an attempt to prove that jazz requires just as much method as any other genre. For a musician adept at more than 17 instruments, the lure of jazz feels almost natural. He admits, “It is my favourite genre since it has no restrictions.”
The composer only began learning jazz recently, and started working on the album a mere two and half months ago. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, I started to learn jazz from Ron Cha, pianist and composer from the Berkeley College of Music. It led me to the music of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and others. I thought to myself why not make a jazz album?” he asks.
The proof lies in the pudding though, and it shows. Starting with the traditional jazz melody in Kick off, to the chemistry with musicians in Parkour and Spark plug, the album displays a mix of diverse influences. Jazz legends like guitarist Frank Gambale, drummers Dave Weckl, Sivamani and Gino Banks join bassist Mohini Dey and the Indian styles of Rajhesh Vaidhya (veena) and BC Manjunath (konnakol — a classical form of performing percussion syllables vocally).
The young musician will also turn film composer with cine legend Mohanlal’s directorial debut, Barroz: guardian of Da Gama’s treasure. The album will also be submitted to the Grammys. “We plan to submit it for two categories — Best Jazz Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo for the song Rugged,”
the teen reveals casually. He does have the talent to match his ambition.
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