Holy Science

Harmonium player and vocalist Amirtha Kidambi’s quartet Elder Ones was in residence in the Concert Hall to record an audio recording of her new work Holy Science. The album was released by Norther Spy in 2016.

Elder Ones, a quartet performing the composi- tions of vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, lies nestled in a Venn diagram of diverse musical spheres and communities in New York City. Bandleader Kidambi performs on harmonium and draws her vocal influence from both Indian Carnatic and Western Classical training. With saxophonist Matt Nelson, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drum- mer Max Jaffe, the band expands its influence to the realm of hip-hop and free improvisation. Oscillating between modal, Sufi-like circular grooves and jagged, brutal rhythmic construc- tions, the band equally suspects Thyagaraja, Coltrane, and Stockhausen as illegitimate fathers of their sound.