Jazz-a-Rama: Susheela Raman and "Nagumomo"

Today's song is by acclaimed British/Indian musician Susheela Raman. Raman's parents are Tamil from southern India who emigrated to London in the mid-60s, where Raman was born, then moved to Australia. Steeped in South Indian classical music because her parents were committed to keeping Tamil culture alive, Raman gave recitals and eventually started her own band concentrating on funk and rock & roll. She later moved into music based more on blues and jazz, then traveled to India to rediscover her music roots and explore Carnatic music. Returning to London, she began working with partner Sam Mills on ways to bridge Indian music with a wider Western audience. She released her first album in 2001, and has recorded five more since then. This song, Nagumomo, can be found on her debut album, Salt Rain, released in 2001. You can also find it on the various artists compilation CD Putumayo Presents: India (2009). The original song was written by South Indian mystic and poet-composer Thyagaraja and is a devotional to the Hindu deity Rama. Raman reinterprets the song in a jazz style. A nice bonus on this video is that she is joined on the song by Algerian artist Cheb Mami.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susheela_Raman