Kadri Gopalnath
| Kadri Gopalnath | |
|---|---|
Kadri Gopalnath performing at Pillayarpatti
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | 11 December 1949 |
| Genres | indian classical music, film music, jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | saxophonist |
| Associated acts | Rudresh Mahanthappa |
| Website | http://www.kadrigopalnath.com/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Saxophone | |
Dr. Kadri Gopalnath (Kannada: ಕದ್ರಿ ಗೋಪಾಲನಾಥ್) (born 11 December 1949) is an Indian saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music on the saxophone.
Kadri Gopalnath was born in 1949 in the city of Mangalore to Thaniappa and Gangamma. He acquired a taste for music from his father Thaniappa, a nadaswaram vidwan. As a child, Gopalnath once saw the saxophone being played in the Mysore Palace band set. Upon hearing the vibrant tone of the saxophone, Gopalnath decided to master it. It took him nearly 20 years to conquer the complex western wind instrument, and he was eventually crowned as the "Saxophone Chakravarthy".
Gopalnath had to make certain modifications to the conventional alto saxophone to play Carnatic music. So successful has this adaptation been that the great musician Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the doyen of Carnatic music, has acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath as a true Carnatic music genius.
Gopalnath learned to play the instrument under Gopalkrishna Iyer of Kalaniketana, Mangalore. In Madras, Gopalnath came in contact with the mridangist T.V. Gopalkrishnan, who identified the youngster's potential and tutored him.
His maiden performance was for the Chembai Memorial Trust. The 1980 Bombay Jazz Festival was a turning point for Gopalnath. John Handy, a jazz musician from California was present at the festival. Hearing Gopalnath play, Handy asked if he could go on stage and perform alongside him. So well did the two mesh, Handy in the jazz style and Gopalnath in the Carnatic style, that it became an instant hit with the audience. Gopalnath has participated in the Jazz Festival in Prague, the Berlin Jazz Festival, the International Cervantino Festival in Mexico, the Music Hall Festival in Paris, the BBC Promenade concert in 1994 at London, and has toured all over the world.
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