Maiden Voyage now available on all streaming platforms

My exposure to jazz really only happened at UCLA, where I was surrounded by talented musicians who were also my close friends. I was awed at the depth of the art form. I saw many links between raga music and modal jazz and was intrigued to learn more about modal jazz. The first jazz standard I was drawn to and the first song for which I started dialoguing between my own Carnatic language and jazz was Maiden Voyage, a composition of Herbie Hancock.

It was an exciting challenge to solo over the changing chords. In Indian classical music, we typically only have one fixed tonic. Our improvisations usually delve into one raga or mode extensively using one fixed tonic as the foundation. In this song, you’ll hear me improvising over shifting tonics and changing the ragas rapidly based on the chord changes - something not commonly done in Indian classical music.

Who better to perform with than my bros who sparked my interest - Julian Le, Jonah Levine, Owen Clapp, Jonathon Pinson, Emile Martinez, David Otis.


The Aditya Prakash Ensemble, a Los Angeles based music group, was founded by award-winning Indian classical vocalist, Aditya Prakash, in 2010. Prakash draws his inspiration to experiment with Indian classical music from his close musical collaborations and performances with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale, and more recently, with acclaimed choreographer, Akram Khan.

The roots of the Ensemble’s collaboration started as UCLA roommates and friends jamming, to a more informed approach, from their Ethnnomusicology studies, where horizons to cross-cultural musical interaction expanded vastly. The result frames Prakash’s distinctive vocal style with jazz, funk, and hip-hop to create a wholly original, genre-melding sound. 

“Aditya represents a new generation of musician. He has studied his traditional craft extensively but is not afraid to take that language and art form into uncharted territories”
-Karsh Kale

“Years ago a young talented kid called Aditya Prakash worked alongside me in my father's ensemble, and went on to tour the world with me as part of my Rise tour in 2005. Today he's a dear friend and a fully accomplished composer with his own Aditya Prakash Ensemble.”
-Anoushka Shankar

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Website: AdityaPrakashMusic.com