U n’ I with Rashmi Shetty - Abhay Nayampally

Our guest today is Abhay Nayampally who was hugely influenced by his musician parents and entered the magical world of music. Having grown up playing instruments such as the Tabla and Piano right from the tender age of 5, he took a fancy to the Guitar around his early teens exploring it through jazz and blues. Abhay then felt the need to explore it in a rarely visited genre on the guitar, South Indian Classical music.

Abhay, along with a significant number of Solo concerts under his belt around the world, has also had the privilege of sharing a stage and playing alongside some of the best-known Indian Classical and Jazz artists in the world some of whom include Ustad Taufiq Qureshi, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Purbayan Chatterjee, Shankar Mahadevan, Pt. Yogesh Samsi, Louis Banks, Sivamani, Gino Banks, Rakesh Chaurasia, and Suresh Wadkar to name a few. He has also recorded for movies and ad campaigns with some of the best-known composers in the music industry including a few award-winning movies. He’s also the recipient of the title Sangeeta Kalaratnam which when translated means, ‘Jewel of the Art of Music.’

Abhay met his Guru and Mentor, the legendary Mandolin Maestro Vidwan U Srinivas under whose incomparable and invaluable tutelage, Abhay cemented his new style of playing and developed it into a polished and fine art form unique to the electric guitar. He is now currently the only Carnatic Guitar Artiste in the world performing and teaching the U Srinivas Bani (style) of playing the electric guitar.

In 2021, Abhay released his self-titled debut Solo Carnatic Guitar album co-produced with internationally acclaimed composer/producer Sandeep Chowta which opened to a tremendous response. His album claimed the Number One Album Spot for the Apple Music All India Indian Classical Charts for more than a month & also made it to the final Grammy Ballot Round for the Best Global Music Album Award.

He aims to bring Carnatic Classical, an ancient Indian art form, to modern audiences, within India and globally, making it more approachable, familiar, and modern without compromising on the traditional aspect of the music.

Listen in as Abhay shares his amazing journey as a musician, his days with his Guru Vidwan Mandolin U Srinivas, the making of his debut album & his onward journey with music.

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