Kala Ramnath: Music Without Borders & the Legacy of Zakir Hussain
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
03/23/25
•77m
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Kala Ramnath is a world-renowned Indian violinist who performs in both the Hindustani classical tradition, and in collaborations that incorporate many styles with Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer , Hilary Hahn, Kronos Quartet with Reena Esmai l and veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh, and leading orchestras such as my own National Arts Centre, to name but a few. You’ll hear about her childhood, and how she became a disciple of the legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj, leading her to revolutionize her approach to Hindustani violin technique. As a teacher she has put together an incredible resource with an extensive video library that she’s created of Indian music, Indianclassicalmusic.com
When I recorded this interview with Kala, she had just the day before returned from the celebration of life for the legendary tabla master Zakir Hussain, who died this past December, and was one of the most important musicians in both Indian music and in bringing a global audience to Indian music. He had moved to San Francisco in the 1960s and was involved in too many projects to begin to list; in 2024 he was the first musician from India to receive 3 Grammys at one ceremony, including his collaboration with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Zakir Hussain was an incredibly important mentor of Kala, and you’ll hear in her words about what his guidance and collaborations meant to her.
Kala talked to me about some of her many cross-genre collaborations, including her fantastic albums with tabla master Bikram Ghosh and her inventive trio with George Brooks and Gwyneth Wentink and you'll hear some of that music as well (albums linked below).
Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript : YouTube and Transcript
Kala Ramnath Website Indianclassicalmusic.com
Raag Ahir Bhairav Paperboats album Elements trio album
Other episodes I’ve linked directly to this one, which I think may interest you: Karnatic violinist Suhadra Vijaykumar
Sitar and tabla player Mohamed Assani
It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you every week, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Please buy me a coffee? Or check out my merch store Sign up for my newsletter and get exclusive sneak peeks!
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:41)Zakir Hussain, Triveni with Jayanthi Kumaresh
(10:53) Kala’s childhood
(15:17) Indianclassicalmusic.com resource
(17:56) Kala Ramnath Collective world music
(19:13) albums with Bikram Ghosh
(20:28) A Better Place from Paperboats with Bikram Ghosh
(26:30) Pandit Jasraj, changing her appro
Previous Episode
Tasha Warren is an acclaimed clarinetist who has premiered over one hundred solo clarinet and chamber works. In this podcast you’ll hear excerpts from her album “Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed” a fantastic collaboration with cellist Dave Eggar of newly commissioned and premiered Bass Clarinet and Cello works, which earned two Grammy nominations. If you listened to my episode with Meg Okura last year, you heard a bit about this project, and Meg’s episode is linked in the show notes if you missed it. Dr. Warren is Assistant Professor of Chamber Music at Michigan State University and the principal clarinet faculty of Mostly Modern Festival and you’ll hear her valuable and candid perspectives on a life as an educator, concert presenter and also the challenges of balancing such a full professional life with that of being a mom. You’ll also hear about her unique musical trip to India sponsored by Pitch Pipe organized by Jennifer Heemstra, among several inspiring projects in this wide-ranging episode. In this episode you’ll be hearing music by Nathalie Joachim, Paquito D’rivera, Martha Redbone Pascal Le Boeuf and Cornelius Boots. One of the wonderful surprises for me as a podcaster has been getting to know composers new to me and I encourage you to listen to Tasha and Dave’s recording which is linked for you below.
Like all my episodes, you can also watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website
Ourself Behind Ourself Concealed album
It’s a joy to be able to bring these meaningful conversations to you, but this project costs me quite a bit of money and lots of time; please support this series through either my merchandise store or buy me a coffee on my Ko-fi page
Some other episodes I’ve linked directly to this one, which I think may interest you, with:
Sarah Jeffery of Team Recorder
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:14) champion of new music, “Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed” album with Dave Eggar
(09:05) Pascal Le Boeuf
(13:19) clip from Snapshots by Pascal Le Boeuf
(15:00) process of choosing composers for this project, expanding styles
(17:37) trip to India, Jennifer Heemstra
(25:07) experiences presenting concerts in different contexts and communities
(30:53) value of journaling, importance of self-awareness and practicing efficiently
(36:25) Martha Redbone, about Black Mountain Calling Cherokee stomp dance
(40:07) clip from Martha Redbone’s Black Mountain Calling
(41:19) Paquito D’Rivera, about African Tales
(43:26) clip of African Tales by Paquito D’Rivera
(44:37) embracing the risk of improv
(46:06) other episodes you’ll like and different ways to support this series
(46:55)study abroad program in Israel, Klezmer improv
(49:29) husband clarinetist Guy Yehuda, balancing family li
Next Episode
Pianist Katherine Dowling: Memorization, Emotion & New Music
March 30, 2025
•75m
Katherine Dowling is a brilliant Canadian pianist and in this conversation we talked about her album of solo music by Alice Ping Yee Ho, mentors including Gil Kalish and Henk Guittart, and how and why she’s developed her exceptional musical memory. Katherine shared fantastic insights into teaching and learning, the importance of inclusivity and access to arts education, and how she uses the Pomodoro technique in the practice room. She explained how sound production on the piano is about the speed of attack and we discussed different skill sets and career paths for pianists. Dr. Dowling shared many inspiring musical memories, and how she developed her ambitious Elegy project to follow her personal path through grief. You’ll be hearing some clips from the album Awake and Dreaming, which you’ll find linked below, and you can use the timestamps to navigate the eipsode. Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website Katherine Dowling websiteWhere to listen to Awake and Dreaming I wanted to let you know about some other episodes I’ve linked directly to this one, which I think may interest you, with: pianist and musicologist Samantha Ege composer Frank Horvat organist Gail Archer Cheng2 Duo with Bryan and Silvie Cheng pianist Jeeyoon Kim Original Merch for saleCan you buy this independent podcaster a coffee? Complete Catalog of EpisodesNewsletter sign-upLinktree for social media photo: Jiyang ChenTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:54) Eckhardt-Gramatté competition, composer Alice Ping Lee Ho, regional music festivals(7:18) album Awake and Dreaming, solo piano music by Alice Ping Lee Ho(11:34) Elegy project, coping with grief(16:09) excerpt from There is No Night Without a Dawning from Awake and Dreaming(18:59) Memorization, Suzuki method(25:15) limitations of learning on electronic keyboards(27:08) mentor Henk Guittart, Schoenberg(29:48) appreciation for modern music in the Netherlands, Ellen Corver(32:31)connection to visual art with Alice Ho’s compositions (34:20) excerpt of Shade(35:51)experience of funnel couds on the Prairies(37:34) Cyclone by Alice Ping Lee Ho(41:12) valuable teaching experiences in Regina(42:37) other episodes you’ll like and ways to support this series(43:32) positive teaching experiences(46:48) new parent(48:18) Gilbert Kalish(53:49) Tanglewood experience, different skills and careers for pianists(56:45) sound production for pianists(01:04:31) inspiring concerts for different audiences(01:07:48) practice strategies, The Artist’s Way, Pomodoro technique(01:12:05) mentoring the next generations
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