Giridhar Udupa bags the Best Upa-pakkavadya award

Ghata artiste Giridhar Udupa from Bangalore who bagged the Best Upa-pakkavadya Award from the Music Academy in the 2014 Music Season is just back from a whirlwind tour of concerts across Europe. “I am happy to dedicate this prestigious award to Karnataka as I owe everything to my State where I received lessons,” said the young percussionist who is a regular at the senior slots of the Academy. Udupa is indeed a unique artiste who is at equal ease with Carnatic, Hindustani and global music. Giridhar has been tapping on this Indian clay pot since he was a four-year-old when his father mridanga vidwan Ullur Nagendra Udupa set him on the ‘beat.’ He later honed his skills with Sukanya Ramgopal and V. Suresh. Today, as a 34-year-old, Giridhar has visited 40 countries and has been part of global collaborations on world platforms. “I can’t forget my accompaniment to R.K. Srikantan and Umayalapuram Sivaraman in 2007 at the Music Academy,” recalls Giridhar. “That was a phenomenal accompaniment on the ghata,” Ustad Amjad Ali Khan had commented after a concert, and Giridhar’s adaptation has impressed stalwarts such as Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pt. Jasraj, Vishwamohan Bhat and Sultan Khan in the innovative amalgams.

“I love to be exploratory in my approaches and my travel helps me get familiarised with wide-ranging global beats,” says Giridhar, who heads three European bands dealing with Spanish Flemenco, Polish-based jazz and Irish western music. “I am trying to internalise every rhythm of the world into my ghata and konnakkol, hoping to set in motion innovative ideas…,” says Giridhar.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review / by Ranjani Govind / February 05th, 2015