Meet Charu Suri | Pianist and Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Charu Suri and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charu, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

I’ve always wanted to contribute something really original to music and bring my heritage into the mix. My love affair with jazz began only fairly recently (I was a classically-trained concert pianist initially) when I visited Preservation Hall Jazz Band four years ago in New Orleans. I was so inspired by the joy they brought to thousands of listeners over the years, their sound, and their truly authentic voice. My immediate thought was to have a jazz band using my Indian heritage.

Now I am releasing my fifth album, RAGS & RAGAS, recorded with legends on it this summer, and it is an assortment of various Indian ragas set to jazz. It features the legendary drummer, Steve Gadd (drummer to Simon and Garfunkel/The Bee Gees/ Chick Corea etc.) on two raga-based tracks, as well as John Patitucci (Chick Corea’s longtime bass player), as well as Joe Lastie from Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans, himself a legend. I am overjoyed at how my work has started to influence and push the boundaries of this genre (some people have said it’s a classical-jazz style, which is probably true). I receive a lot of emails constantly from listeners who say how much they love what I am doing and how it is influencing them; even folks from Preservation Hall have said the same thing. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I’ve been busy with the new album, and more concerts filling my calendar. So, I’m thankful and happily busy.

Listeners from around the world have asked me for more repertoire about ragas, so I am working on a book of raga-based pieces for piano solo.

Also: my latest, and fifth album has preoccupied me for the last few months. It is an assortment of various raga-based jazz compositions, from morning, afternoon and evening ragas. 

RAGS & RAGAS, will debut first as a single on August 18th, and the full album on first week of September so I’ve been busy with that. Also, many concerts are coming up, including shows in Miami, and Canada, where I will headline the South Coast Jazz Festival on August 12th near Toronto. 

I continue to keep busy composing music in two styles: “raga jazz” and songbook. The “raga jazz” voice is what I am increasingly becoming well known for, extremely different from any other type of jazz out there, combining Indian ragas which are mostly melodic with richer, jazz and classical-like harmonies and rhythms. The result is something that is truly different and I am proud of it. Both critics and audiences have loved it, praised the sound for a truly unique “voice” and for pioneering something new and ground-breaking in the world of jazz. One jazz photographer who attended my show in Baltimore said, “raga jazz” is as big if not bigger than what “bebop” was in the 1960s…it has the potential to push the boundaries of jazz to more global levels.

The other thing that keeps me busy professionally is getting gigs on my calendar! And I am happy to report that my calendar is happily full and busy this year, with many more shows added for 2024, including my fourth Carnegie Hall appearance on Friday, April 5, 2024. 

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I perform often in Miami although I live in New Jersey. If my best friend were visiting, I’d take them for a dip in South Beach, really one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, then breakfast at 1 Hotel which is gorgeous, and then live jazz at The Betsy (where I perform regularly, and they have jazz greats on the roster), and drinks at LPM in Brickell. I love LPM’s cocktails that are inspired by Jean Cocteau and the menu too is totally elegant and quirky in the best way possible.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a few people: my late father, who died last year and to whom I dedicated my last album, Ragas & Waltzes, gave me the world when it came to music. The other tribute is to New Orleans in general, the land of jazz, which fueled my love for the genre, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band in particular. I also love the legends Bill Evans and David Brubeck who so beautifully and gracefully combined classical piano with jazz and that inspired me no end, since I was a classical concert pianist.

Website: www.charusuri.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/charusurimusic

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charu-suri-260601b/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/charusurimusic

Facebook: www.facebook.com/charusuritrio

Youtube: www.youtube.com/charusuritrio

Image Credits
Bethany Altschwager