Indian Jazztronica
Photo: Mukesh Babu
MUSIC
"Dazzling stuff that blows open your mind as well as your ears, this hyper textured set is all the world beat you ever wanted all at once---and sounding good instead of like a mish mosh." - Midwest Record, Nov 2017
VIDEOS
Spirit of the String
Raghuvamsa Sudha
Mango Showers
BIO
"Rini draws on her decades of Carnatic music training and her years at Berklee, shifting South Asian classical elements toward pop and jazz sensibilities in a refreshing, organic way."
- Republic of Jazz
“With her powerful, often ferocious mezzo-soprano, carnatically-influenced violin lines, Raghavan led the group through a dynamic set that blended Trans-Siberian Orchestra pomp with distantly macabre early ELO and even more towering cinematics.”
- New York Music Daily
"Chennai-bred singer and violinist Harini S Raghavan has made her mark in New York, (she) jams on violins as well as electronic effects with a band setup backing her on songs such as 'Thiruvizha' and 'Fear'."
- Rolling Stone India
Photo By: Rosa Amanda Turian
Shifting South Asian classical elements toward pop and jazz sensibilities in a refreshing, organic way, New Jersey based, Chennai born singer, composer and violinist Harini “Rini” Raghavan creates her own version of Indian Jazztronica. Harini draws from her formal training in Carnatic music and work at Berklee College of Music to bring together sounds and music of her birthplace in India and her home in the US. She leads a group of acclaimed NYC based musicians from different countries that add their unique musical influences to create ‘a powerful contemporary Carnatic/electronic fusion sound’ as described by Rolling Stone India. Rini received a 2023 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
An experienced performer and recording artist, Harini has recorded and performed with Grammy winning composers A.R.Rahman, Bill Whelan and the renowned Israeli Singer-Songwriter Idan Raichel, headlining prestigious festivals and venues in US and India, including Boston Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center, Beacon Theatre and the United Nations General Assembly. Harini composed the background score, along with Andrew Orkin, for the Netflix show ‘The Fame Game’ starring the Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit and recorded voice and violin for the series( #1 in Netflix India, Pakistan, and top 10 in the UK, Australia for many weeks). Harini was a featured soloist on violin in the video ‘Jiya Jale’ by The Berklee Indian Ensemble, released in 2014, that has 53 million views to date. She performs across the United States with other projects as well like the multi disciplinary production ‘Bollywood Boulevard’ as a lead singer and violinist (peformances at performing arts centers like Lincoln Center, NJPAC, Wolf Trap, Kingsbury Hall UT), with American Patchwork Quartet as lead singer/violinist (performances at Cafe Lena NY, Levitt Pavilion CT), JSWISS(Blue Note NYC), Salsa Masala(Center at West Park, NYC) and has collaborated with artists/bands like FKAJazz, Polyhedren, Pattern Seeking Animals.
Rini stirs just right chords to get you tuned to their music! - Songdew
LIVE
Photo By: Mukesh Babu