Konnakol Ace BC Manjunath on Carrying Forward India’s Fluid Rhythmic Tradition

During the lockdowns a couple of years ago, percussionist and Carnatic artist B.C. Manjunath was called to be part of Art Matters, an initiative and livestream program put together by Teamwork Arts, the promoters behind events such as Jaipur Literature Festival. Joined by versatile artists like multi-instrumentalist composer and vocalist Praveen D. Rao and vocalist-flautist Varijashree Venugopal, Manjunath says this group was originally called Trayam.

With the addition of percussionist Pramath Kiran, for Art Matters, they became Rhythms of India, which recently expanded further to include formidable names like drummer Darshan Doshi and Rajasthani folk powerhouse Nathu Lal Solanki. After a couple of performances in 2022, Rhythms of India took on its biggest stage yet in January, performing on the Jaipur Music Stage as part of Jaipur Literature Festival, now joined by American composer-flautist Ned McGowan. “We are evolving exponentially with the rhythms, harmony, melodies, and the genres. This has been a very exciting but scary journey as we are growing so fast, and I hope we will be able to keep it up in the future,” Manjunath says about the journey so far.

Between Manjunath’s globally-renowned konnakol style, Nathu Lal Solanki’s powerful drumming and Doshi’s diverse drumming, a lot transpired during Rhythms of India’s set in Jaipur. Manjunath adds, “The most important thing is that every artist in this group is extremely dexterous and qualified to understand the music and to apply it to the instruments. In all honesty, the Bangalore team, including Ned, rehearsed for one day in the studio and then for four hours straight the next day in a studio in Jaipur right before the show at Jaipur Music Stage.”

At the center of it all, given the title of the project, is exploring Indian rhythms through traditional and modern interpretations. While India’s sense of rhythm has often been hailed worldwide for their power and ability to be adapted to other music styles, Manjunath says it doesn’t necessarily mean that Indian classical and folk artists can “play anything.” He adds, “It’s very important that we get influenced by all genres. But of course, when we compose and when you hear us, you are going to hear a lot of Indian music in it.”

Specifically with konnakol, Manjunath has shown the world how Indians can speak in a rhythmic language to a degree that’s very different from the rehearsal-bound jamming that other music styles demand. “I think a lot of musicians from the West found this very interesting and so there has been a huge draw towards Indian traditional rhythms, especially, when I started using social media as one of my outlets,” he says.

In Rhythms of India, Manjunath claims and yields equal space for all the artists in the mix. Following their performance at Jaipur Music Stage, there’s studio material being readied for recording to “release in some form or as a video.” Manjunath adds that they’re looking for somebody to commission the project, although they have a proponent and promoter in Teamwork Arts, who put together multiple festivals.