Swinging Ragas: How Harini Iyer and the Tamil Jazz Collective Gives Jazz Standards A Carnatic Soul
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If you think you know “Take Five,” try hearing it in Tamil. Same melody, same five-beat walk. Your brain still does a double take, because the language pulls the phrasing into new corners. It decides where a line breathes, which syllables land heavy, which vowels want to be held, and how the groove feels against the bar line.
That is the idea behind The Tamil Jazz Collective, led by vocalist and educator Harini Iyer. She started by writing Tamil versions of jazz standards and posting them online under the tongue-in-cheek alias “Ella Subramanyam,” then took it to the stage as a rotating ensemble. Her route into this world is unusually concrete: Carnatic training, jazz study with Berklee vocalist Lisa Thorson, and a long stretch outside full-time music. The project carries that mix of curiosity and structure.
The band matters as much as the concept. A core lineup Harini has performed with includes Sahib Singh on Guitar, Azan Sherif on Bass, and Ranakkalmedu Kalainath on Mridangam. Homegrown also notes her collaborations with guitarist Sahib Singh and Shylu Ravindran, known for their work in the Carnatic fusion band Jatayu. The collective welcomes guest musicians, so the instrumentation can flex with the room and city.
Listen closely and you hear the real craft: mridangam holding time with a different kind of pocket than a kit, bass and guitar keeping harmony steady, and the voice moving like a lead instrument rather than “a singer” sitting on top. The translation forces new decisions too. Many jazz lyrics lean on American idiom, so meaning has to be rebuilt, not copied. In one interview, Harini describes how changing words while keeping the melody shifts the emotional weight, and how people who have heard “Take Five” endlessly can hear it fresh in Tamil.
The collective also makes space for originals. Harini has pointed to “Rauthiram Pazhagu,” inspired by Bharathiyar’s poetry, as part of the project’s world, so it is not limited to reinterpretation.
The Tamil Jazz Collective shows what happens when they travel through a South Indian language, through Carnatic rhythmic intelligence, and through musicians who treat both traditions with discipline.
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