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 U. Srinivas
Upalappu Srivinas, also known as "Mandolin Shrinivas,"
plays Carnatic music (the classical music of South
India) on the electric mandolin. No kidding. For video
and sound clips, visit his kickin' new Web site. And here's a brief paper he wrote on the history of the mandolin. But in
case you were wondering: His first mandolin belonged to
his father, a clarinetist. At some point in his boyhood,
he acquired the first of the odd-shaped redburst
mandolins for which he's become famous. That
instrument had the standard eight tuners; later he
either had the headstock cut down or had a new
instrument made with only six. It's hard to say how many
such mandolins he's owned, but they are custom-made for
him. He uses only five strings, and tunes to CGCGC.
Copies of it are available in India, and several other
Indian mandolin players have used instruments just like
it. These would include Suresh Kumar,
Raghavendra, and Srinivas' own brother,
U Rajesh.
Srinivas has toured extensively in the United States, both in a duo with his brother and with John McLaughlin's Carnatic/jazz fusion ensemble Remember Shakti. You can order Srinivas' recordings here (there are a couple of dozen to choose from), or listen to clips here. And there are several videos to choose from:
Padmashri U Shrinivas Maruthi Nilayam 12-A Venkateswara Street Dhanalakshmi Colony Vadapalani, Chennai 600026 INDIA Tel: +91 44 2362 2696, 2362 1421 Fax: +91 44 2362 1421 |
