Mel Mercier

Irish bodhrán player who has performed and collaborated with pianist and composer Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin for over twenty-five years and, throughout the 1980s, he performed extensively in Europe and the USA with composer John Cage and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. He has also performed and recorded with many of the leading Irish traditional musicians of the last thirty years following in the footsteps of his father, Peadar Mercier, who was the bodhrán player in The Chieftans from 1966-1976.

Fergus O'Byrne

Irish bodhrán player who is now located in Newfoundland, Canada. Known for his work with the groups The Sons of Erin, O'Reilly's Men, Sullivan's Gypsy's, Ryan's Fancy, Tickle Harbour, and now plays with A Crowd of Bold Sharemen.

Kevin Conneff

Irish bodhrán player who played with The Chieftans from 1976-2002. Conneff was the third bodhrán player for The Chieftans but he sometimes shared the duty of playing bodhrán in The Chieftans with the band's leader Paddy Moloney.

Tommy Hayes

Innovative Irish bodhrán player who was helped form a progressive band of All-Ireland championship winning musicians called Stockton's Wing in 1977 and performed/recorded with them until 1983. He has several solo recordings out and was the bodhrán player in the original run of show Riverdance and in the film Rob Roy.

John Joe Kelly

Perhaps the most refined bodhrán player living today. Plays with the group Flook.

 

Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh

Irish bodhrán player known for his work with the group Dé Danann (also spelled as De Dannan) from 1975-1983. Their 1977 recording Selected Jigs, Reels, and Songs features a bodhrán solo by Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh. He is the first to develop the modern rim shot and play the bodhrán with a brush.

Colm Murphy

Irish bodhrán player known for his work with the group Dé Danann (also spelled as De Dannan) from 1983-2002. Murphy was the second bodhrán player for the group after Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh left.

Steáfán Hannigan

Irish bodhrán player and multi-instrumentalist who is known for his work with Lorraine Jordan, Il Divo, Julian Lloyd Weber, Pete Lockett, Bjork, Depeche Mode, Gary Barlow, Uriah Heep, Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick, John Kirkpatrick, Broderick, Luke Daniels, Sin É, Linn Tilla, Anne Lister, Eileen McGann, Band of Hope, Lammas, Tim Garland, Brian Willoghby, Lorenna McKennett, Jeff Martin, James Keelaghan, Art Turner, The Afro-celts, John O'Connor, snf Michael Flately. Author of The Bodhrán Book, The Bodhrán Video, and The Bodhrán DVD.

Rónán Ó Snodaigh

Rónán Ó Snodaigh is an Irish musician, poet, and vocalist in the group Kíla. Ó Snodaigh plays the bodhrán with an unusual technique he developed that involves the use of a 6-inch piece of steel pipe that is pressed against the skin with the left hand for glissandi.

Peadar Mercier

Irish bodhrán player who played with The Chieftans from 1966-1976 and is the father of Mel Mercier. Paedar Mercier was the second bodhrán player for The Chieftans (the first was Dave Fallon 1963-1966). Originally, he first played in the group Ceoltóirí Cualann in 1961 with Seán Ó Ríada.

Seán Ó Ríada (John Reidy)

Irish composer and bodhrán player who helped make Irish traditional music popular with his group Ceoltóirí Chualann (pictured above). The group existed from 1961-1969 but he was active as a composer for film and radio DJ in Ireland in the 1950s. His work shows a strong interest in the various regional Irish folk styles and an effort to blend them with compositional elements of European classical music.

Jesse Winch

American bodhrán player who is known for his work with the group Celtic Thunder since 1977.

Brian Fleming

Irish bodhrán player and percussionist who has worked with groups such as Anuna, Puck Fair, Whirligig, Faolan and Jack L. and is a founding member of the Afro-Irish group De jimbe. He plays with the Rónán Ó Snodaigh steel pipe glissandi technique and also uses brushes for helicopter-like effects.

Robbie Harris

Robbie Harris is an Irish bodhrán player and percussionist from Dublin. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Emer Mayock, Eileen Ivers, Moya Brennan, Stockton's Wing, Bill Whelan, Brian Kennedy, Daimen Demsey, Finbar Furey, Mick Moloney, Puck Fair, Grada, Secret Garden, The Bards, The Fleadh Cowboys, Patrick Mangan, Kevin O'Connor, Martin Nolan, Zoe Conway, Peter Browne, Eoin Duignan, Declan Masterson, Hector Zazou, Sami Moukaddem, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Kila. In 2000, he compiled and released a double CD called Pure Bodhrán - The Definitive Collection that features a collection of 19 of the leading exponents of the drum from all over Ireland. It features the first ever recording of the instrument made in 1927. In 2000, he relocated to New York City to play bodhrán in the Broadway production of Riverdance.

Rolf Wagels

German bodhrán player and as recognized as the best player of the instrument in Europe outside of Ireland. He is a member of the highly praised Irish traditional bands DeReelium and Steampacket and played in Germany with different German and Irish bands such as Cara, Joe Burke & Anne Conroy, More Maids, Templehouse Céilí Band, Ian Smith and Steven Campbell, among others.

Svend Kjeldsen

Bodhrán player from Denmark who plays with the groups Crónán and Moving Cloud.

Frank Torpey

Irish bodhrán player who is a member of the Irish traditional music group Nomos. He has played with Riverdance, Michéal Ó Súilleabháin, Luka Bloom, and The Brendan Power Band. Frank became the bodhrán tutor at U.C.C. in 1992 and has since taught on the Masters Degree in Traditional Music Performance at the University of Limerick. He is the author of the Bodhrán CD Rom Tutorial.

Thórralf Schuh

German bodhrán player who has played with the groups Spillÿck, Salty Finish, and Poeta Magica.

Ken Larson

American bodhrán player located in Oregon. Known for his work with Peter Yeates, Gallowglass, and New Shilling.

 

Carter Gravatt

American guitarist and bodhrán player with the rock band Carbon Leaf from Virginia.

 

Séan McCann

Canadian bodhrán player with the group Great Big Sea from Newfoundland.

 

Sean Bodhrán

Irish bodhrán player.

Lucy Randall

Originally a rock drummer, Lucy was inspired to take up the bodhrán after seeing the legendary Irish band De Dannan. Through listening to lots of traditional Irish music, playing at local sessions, and having a natural feel for traditional music, she quickly became a competent player. Soon Lucy was playing regularly with Broadstairs based melodeon and guitar maestro Tim Edey, along with Kent’s leading world music band Monkey Puzzle with fiddler Laura Targett and guitarist Peter Gazey. In 2000, Lucy and Laura won 1st prize in the Wiltshire Young Folk Awards, Lucy also taking the prize for Best Instrumentalist. Due to Lucy's respect for all styles within traditional Irish music coupled with an interest in many other musical genres and a technical ability of a very high standard, Lucy is one of the most versatile and creative bodhrán players of the present time. As well as teaching at various festivals and at Hammersmith Irish Centre in London, Lucy has recorded and performed with many excellent musicians including: The Michael McGoldrick Big Band, James O’Grady and Alan Prosser (The Oyster Band), Colette O’Leary (The Bumble Bees), Niel Yates, Seth Lakeman, and Charlie McCarran (capercaillie) plus many others and is now currently working with Brendan Power, with whom she and Tim Edey performed on the popular BBC TV music show Later With Jools Holland. She is the author of one of the best books on contemporary bodhrán entitled The Goat Whackers Guide to Rhythm!

Guido Plüschke

One of the top bodhran players in mainland Europe. Located in Germany. Website.

Pandereteiras de O Fiadeiro

All female pandereteira ensemble from Galicia in northwestern Spain specializing in traditional music from Galicia.

 

Polavila & Juanjo Fernández

Polavila is a traditional ensemble from Galicia including Lola López, Lucía Rodríguez, Carmen Rodríguez, and Isolina Rodríguez. Juanjo Fernández (at right in photo) is a Galician musican who specializes in gaita (bagpipes) and also plays pandeireta.

Xabier Berazaluze "Leturia"

Panderoa player from Basque Country in northern Spain. Plays with Tapia eta Leturia Band.

Natxo de Felipe

Singer, panderoa player, and multi-instrumentalist from Basque Country in northern Spain. Plays with Oskorri.

Mercedes Peón

Pandeireta player, singer, and multi-instrumentalist from Galicia in northwestern Spain.

 

Eliseo Parra

Singer, guitarist, and pandereta player from Valladolid in Castilla y León, Spain. His background is diverse as he was involved in rock and jazz bands but in 1984 began performing a type of Pan-Spanish music style that incorporated musical instruments and folk songs from all over Spain with modern jazz, rock, and funk influences.

Xavier Sanchez e Iglesias

Player of the Galician pandeireta with the Belgium group Néboa.

Alba Gutiérrez

Pandeireta player from Cantabria in Northern Spain (next to Basque Country). She performs in a traditional music duo with José María Silva and in the groups Almacántaro, La España de Las Tres Culturas, and Nilo Azul. Check out her my space page.

Aura Kuby (Aura Tazón)

Pandeireta player from Cantabria in Northern Spain (next to Basque Country) who is also a gifted singer, songwriter, and player of a variety of traditional musical instruments from Spain.

Pandereta.be

Pandereta.be is a duo of Galician pandeireta players & singers located in Belgium. They are Xavier Sanchez e Iglesias and Eva Fernandez Palomo.

Ialma

Ialma are a Galician group that play pandeireta and sing, located in Belgium. Their music is a mix of traditional Galician and urban popular styles. The band members are Nuria Aldao, Veronica Codesal, Natalia Codesal, Magali Menendez, and Marisol Palomo.

 

A Contrabanda

A Contrabanda is a group specializing in traditional Galician music, located in Belgium. Xavier Sanchez e Iglesias plays pandeireta with them.

Carlo Rizzo

Most inventive Italian tamburello player in Europe. Carlo Rizzo was born in Venice and was originally a painter. After meeting southern Italian folk musicians, he developed an interest in tamburello, tammorra, and traditional songs from southern Italy. After intense studies, which also included Persian drumming, he engineered his own poly-timbral and multi-timbral tambourines (pictured above) on which he can control the tuning of the skin, application of snares, and the dampening of the jingles in real time while performing. His technique makes his tambourines sound at times like a snare drum, timpani, and tamburello. He is also quite skilled and equally inventive on other frame drums. He is located in France and performs mostly across Europe.

 

Andrea Piccioni

Italian tamburello (pictured above) and tammorra player from Rome. Equally skilled on other frame drums, Andrea is part of the newer stylists who have started using Italian tambourines outside of their tradition, subsequently expanding the traditional techniques. He is the author of the book Il Tamburello Italiano (The Italian Tamburello).

Alessandra Belloni

The most well-known Italian tamburello and tammorra (pictured above) player in the USA who is also a singer, dancer, and inventive director of her Italian themed musical shows in New York. Originally from Rome, she is the author of the book & DVD Rhythm is the Cure: Southern Italian Tambourine.

Paolo Cimmino

Italian tamburello (pictured above) player from Naples who is also skilled on a variety of frame drums and percussion. Paolo is part of the newer stylists who have started using Italian tambourines outside of their tradition, subsequently expanding the traditional techniques. Author of the book A New Way of Playing Tamburello.

Antonio O' Lione Matrone

Tammorra (pictured abve) and tamburello player and singer from Naples with the group Tammurriata di Scafati ( that also includes the tammorra player Luigi Matrone and tamburello & tammorra player Piccolo Corrado Veneruso "Spaghettino").

Francesco Manna

Italian tamburello & tammorra (pictured above) player from Naples. He studied Italian tambourines with Arnaldo Vacca and Alfío Antíco and Persian daf with Mohsen Kassirossafar. He has performed with Ancia Libera, Taranterrae, Etnie, Tamburellando di Arnaldo Vacca, Federico Verdoliva, Caterina Pontrandolfo, Daniele Sepe, Paolo Cimmino, Zezi teatro, and Giovanni Coffarelli, among others.

Alfío Antíco

Master Italian tamburello and tammorra (pictured above) player from Sicily. He is also a master craftsman and makes very refined tamburello and tammorra. He has performed with Musicanova, Edoardo Bennato, Vincenzo Spampinato, Lucio Dalla, Fabrizio De Andrè, Vinicio Capossela, Peppe Barra, Renzo Arbore, Roy Paci, Gianni Perilli, Piero Ricci, and Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, among others.

Tamburi del Vesuvio

Ten piece Italian group from Rome featuring the multi-instrumentalists & tammorra players (pictured above) Nando Citarella, Gabriella Aiello, Valerio Perla, Umberto Vitiello (playing daf above), and Arabic percussionist Mohammed Abdalla on riq and bendir.

Gabriella Aiello

Gabriella Aiello was born in Rome, Italy, where grew up as a singer, dancer and musician. She started out studying classic singing techniques with several teachers and then she got into jazz music. Her main interest, for many years, has been world music. Her meeting Giovanna Marini led to the studying of the traditional Italian musical culture including its folk songs, musics, and dances. She has been collaborating as lead-singer and dancer with several groups performing southern Italian popular music. She performs on tammorra with Tamburi del Vesuvio and also sings with Tarè.

Nando Citarella

Italian singer, tammorra player, actor, and musician from Rome who also works with Tamburi del Vesuvio. He has worked with Eduardo De Filippo, Dario Fo, Linsday Kemp, Roberto De Simone, and Ugo Gregoretti.

Umberto Vitiello

Italian frame drummer and percussionist from Rome who plays tammorra, daf, and other percussion. Works with the group Tamburi del Vesuvio, among others.

Valerio Perla

Italian tammorra player and Afro-Cuban percussionist from Rome who has worked with Giancarlo Schiaffini & Italian Instabile Orchestra, Nando Citarella & Tamburi del Vesuvio, Jovanotti, Mau Mau, Riccardo Tesi & Banditaliana, James Senese & Napoli Centrale, Mal Funk, Luca di Volo & T.E.S.T. Orchestra, among others.

Andrea Stefanizzi

Left-handed Italian tamburello and frame drummer from Lecce in Salento (southern Puglia). He has worked with Kumenéi, among others.

Roberto Chiga

Italian tamburello & tamorra player and frame drummer from Martignano in Salento (southern Puglia). He has worked with Arakne Mediterranea, The Survivers Band, Ensemble Terra d'Otranto, Giuseppe Gioia e Apulia Ensemble, and now plays with the group Athanaton.

Giorgio Di Lecce & Arkane Mediterranea

Arakne Mediterranea is an association of Italian artists, based in Martignano in Salento (southern Puglia), which for 10 years, together with the co-operation of the University of Lecce, has been dedicated to the preservation and diffusion of the traditions and folk cultures of Salento. The association has given rise to numerous dance companies and folk songs, composed by Giorgio Di Lecce (who is the Director and one of the a tamburello players), Imma Giannuzzi, Gabriella Licciardi, Graziella Paiano, Pierangelo e Giovanni Colucci, Francesca Della Monaca, Maria Negro, Gianluca Milanese, Francesco Del Prete, Francesco Frascella, Roberto Chiga and Elio Giordano. The photo below is of an Arakne Mediterranea performance of la danza del tamburo. This group has many great CDs and an informative website.

La Danza del Tamburo

Antonio Melegari

Left-handed Italian tamburello player from Salento (southern Puglia) who plays with the group Kumenéi. He has worked with the group Mascarimirì.

Matteo Manni

Italian tamburello player from Salento (southern Puglia) who plays with the group Kumenéi.

Mauro Durante

Italian tamburello player and violinist from Lecce in Salento (southern Puglia). He has worked with Ensemble di Terra d’Otranto, Cesare Dell’Anna, Nidi d’Arac, Ambrogio Sparagna, and Piero Milesi, among others.

Pino Zimba

Italian tamburello player and singer from Salento (southern Puglia).

Alessandro Coppola

Italian tamburello player and multi-instrumentalist from Salento (southern Puglia) who plays with the group Nidi D'Arac.

Antonio "Uccio" Aloisi

Italian tamburello/tamburo player and singer of traditional music from Salento (southern Puglia). His group is called Uccio Aloisi Gruppu and features other tamburello players including Gianluca Cornovaglia and Domenico Riso.

Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti

Italian tamburello player and singer with the group Mascarimirì that also includes the tamburello player Cosimo Giagnotti. This group is from Salento (southern Puglia) and plays a blend of traditional froms (tarantella salentina & pizzica) with modern popular music.

Francesco Salvadore

Italian tamburello player and percussionist who uses other frame drums in his work with the Sicilian group Unavantaluna.

Francesco Turrisi

Italian jazz pianist and frame drum who plays great Sicilian style tamburello. originally from Turin in northern Italy, he is now located in Ireland. He has played with Dave Liebman, Maria Pia de Vito, Fay Claasen, Gianluigi Trovesi, Lucilla Galeazzi, John Ruocco, Eric Ineke, Ronan Guilfoyle, Michael Buckley, Dorothy Murphy, and is the frame drummer for the early music ensemble L'Arpeggiata.

G. Michele Montanaro

Italian tamburello player from Caserta in Campania. He has studied Italian tambourines with Arnaldo Vacca, Alfío Antíco, Nando Citarella, and Andrea Piccioni. He has performed with Sonia Maurer, Sara Modigliani, Michela Musolino, Andrea Piccioni, Pino Pontuali, Arnaldo Vacca, Felice Zaccheo, and Gianluca Zammarelli, among others, and is very adept at Brazilian pandeiro style juggling with the tamburello.

Ninad Massimo Carrano

Italian tamburello player and frame drummer from Rome. He teaches the University of Music, Rome and has worked with Teresa De Sio, Mimmo Locasciulli, Ornella Vanoni, Fabrizio de Andrè, Karl Potter, Massimo Moriconi, Mariapia de Vito, Rita Marcotulli, Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, Lucilla Galeazzi, and Tony Esposito, among others.

Giulio Varricchio

Great Italian tamburello & tammorra player with the group Annasulea.

Tiziana Valentini

Italian tamburello & tammorra from Rome who plays with the amazing group Ta Travudia who play a blend of various Italian, French, and Greek styles.

 

Valentina De Monte & Maddalena Pantaleo

Italian tamburello & tammorra players with the group Lingatere.

 

Domenico Candellori

Italian tamburello player and frame drummer from Bologna who has worked with Gaetano Maria Palumbo, Juredurè, Claudio Cavallo, Las Migas, Gilles Coullet, Zohra, Tambours du Mediterranée, Dakkaroudania, Babylon System Rebels, De Andrè Quintet, and Fulvio Silvestri, among others.

Francesco Semeraro

Italian tamburello player with Tre Tarantellae.

Giovanni Parrinello

Italian tamburello and tammorra player from Rome.

Marcello Colasurdo

Italian tamburello & tammorra player.

Saverio Paternoster

Italian tamburello player.

Ciro Raciti

Italian tamburello player from Naples with the group Gli Antichi Cantori.

Luca Rossi

Italian tamburello & tammorra player from Bologna.

Projecto Adufe

Group started by Portuguese percussionist José Salgueiro in 1998 to make use of over-sized traditional instruments such as the extra large adufe pictured above.

Adufeiras de Monsanto

Portuguese adufe group from Monsanto led by Amelia Fonseca.

Paulo Meirinhos

Portuguese maker and player of adufe (pandeiro quadrado). The making of these instruments has been in his family for a few generations. Paulo makes versions with pneumatic tuning systems in many shapes including square, triangle, diamond, hexagon, octagon, and circle. Checkout his website on how he builds his drums.

Alfredo Ventura & Maria Rosa Fidalgo

Adufe players from Tierra de Miranda (Terra de Miranda) in the northeastern corner of Portugal.

Annabel Araico

Player of the pandeireta and pandeiro (in photo, also known as adufe) in the Galician style (northwestern Spain) and member of the Belgium group Néboa.

Lília Matos

Lília Matos is a singer, adufe player and multi-instrumentalist in the Portuguese group Xaile that also includes adufe players Bia and Marie. This group plays a blend of traditional music from northeastern Portugal (Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro) with urban popular styles.

 

Abhishek Raghuram (2005)

Primarily a singer who was coached in kanjira by G. Harishankar. Grandson of mridangam master Palghat R. Raghu. Located in Chennai.

Alathur T. Rajaganesh (2005)

A mridangam player who also performs on kanjira. Learned kanjira from B. Harikumar & V. Nagarajan. Located in Trichy.

V. Anirudh Athreya (2005)

Youngest Carnatic performer on kanjira (17 years old). Learned kanjira from his relative V. Nagarajan and now studies with T. K. Murthy. Located in Chennai.

B. S. Purushotham (2005)

One of the busiest Carnatic kanjira players in Tamil Nadu. Learned kanjira from T. K. Murthy. Originally from Bangalore, now located in Chennai. YouTube Video 1.

B. Shree Sundar Kumar (2005)

The most advanced Carnatic kanjira player in Tamil Nadu. Performs regularly with all of the top Carnatic vocalists and instrumentalists and fusion artists. Top mridangam student (A grade) of Karaikudi R. Mani. Grew up around G. Harishankar and learned his playing style on kanjira by observation. His power, speed, rhythmic complexity, and beauty in phrasing are that of a senior artist despite his age being only 24. Located in Chennai.

N. Amrit (2005)

The most advanced Carnatic kanjira player in Karnataka and most advanced student of G. Harishankar who has mastered many aspects of his playing style in terms of power, speed, rhythmic complexity, and beauty in phrasing. Performs often with all of the top Carnatic vocalists and instrumentalists and fusion artists and plays for marathon bhajan performances (up to 6 hours). Highly experienced teacher. A grade kanjira artist and also a great mridangam player who learned from Sri M. Vasudeava Rao and Sri A. V. Anand. Located in Bangalore. Website.

C. P. Vyasa Vittala (2005)

Former student of G. Harishankar and Sri Mushnam V. Raja Rao. One of the few kanjira players that did not also learn mridangam. Located in Bangalore.

C. S. Venkatramanan (2005)

Son of the late kanjira artist C. K. Shyam Sundar. Learned kanjira and mridangam from his father. Originally from Chittoor, now located in Chennai.

Dakshinamurthy Pillai (1935)

Mridangam and kanjira master in the early 1930s. Responsible for furthering the fingering from Pudukottai Manpoondia Pillai by applying more complicated mridangam fingerings to kanjira. His playing is said to have raised the level of kanjira playing. He learned kanjira from Pudukottai Manpoondia Pillai in the late 1800s.

Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (1938)

At age 5 with kanjira. See his mridangam entry below for bio. Sivaraman on kanjira Google Video 1.

Govinda Harishankar (1979)

The greatest Carnatic kanjira player who ever lived. Still to this day, musicians are in awe of what G. Harishankar was capable of with one hand. His was born on June 10, 1958 and died on February 11, 2002. G. Harishankar started on kanjira at a very young age with his father Govinda Rao, started formal mridangam training with the legend Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer and then later with C. S. Murugaboopathy. He also studied with Ramanathapuram Sri C. S. Sankarasivam. He plays kanjira right handed but mridangam left handed (it is said that he did so to prove that playing mridangam was not as hard as kanjira so he switched to playing mridangam left handed). G. Harishankar is responsible for furthering the complexity of modern kanjira playing in terms of advanced techniques for speed, power, rhythmic complexity and beauty in phrasing (left hand bending of the skin). It is said in India by many of the senior percussionists that performed with him or witnessed him play that he could top any mridangam player he was matched with in a concert during the percussion solos (thani avarthanam). G. Harishankar on several occasions even topped tabla player Zakir Hussain when they shared the stage in Malaysia and Europe. He had only a few students that carried on his secrets and techniques. Some of his best recorded playing was as a member of Sruthi Laya with Karaikudi R. Mani on mridangam, T. V. Vasan on ghatam, and Srirangam S. Kannan on morsing in the 1980s-1990s. To many in India, his death was proof that he was in fact human and not a god. YouTube Video 1. YouTube Video 2. YouTube Video 3.

Guru Raghavendra (2005)

Plays fusion with vina player Rajesh Vaidhya.

 

H. P. Ramachar (2005)

Sadly, Ramachar recently died on June 23, 2006. He was the oldest kanjira player in India at 82 years old. Responsible for introducing a new level of speed in the 1970s. Researched the history, construction of, and tuning of kanjira more than any other musician in India. His first concert on kanjira was in 1931 accompanying with mridangam master Palghat T. A. S. Mani Iyer. He learned mridangam from H. Puttachar and taught himself kanjira.

K. S. Rangachari (2005)

One of the older kanjira players still performing at 71 years old. Father of Mambalam Sisters, who he exclusively accompanies now. Began performing on kanjira in 1950. Learned mridangam and kanjira from T. R. Harihara Sharma (father of T. H. "Vikku" Vinayakram & T. H. Subash Chandran). Originally from Kanjipuram, now located in Chennai.

 

K. V. Gopalakrishnan (2005)

Son of K. V. R. S. Mani. Learned from his father and T. K. Murthy. Mainly a mridangam player who also performs on kanjira. Located in Chennai.

K. V. R. S. Mani (2005)

Originally from Madurai, now located in Chennai.

Latha Ramachar (2006)

India's only performing female Carnatic kanjira player. She learned kanjira from her father H. P. Ramachar and also U. K. Sivaraman but has also had some training on mridangam. She is a member of the all female ensemble of percussion and saxophone called Karnataka Mahila Laya Madhuri and has performed all over India, Europe, and the USA with many of India's top artists. Located in Bangalore. YouTube Video 1.

 

Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (mridangam on left) and Palani Subramania Pillai (left hand kanjira on right, c. 1950s]

Palghat T. A. S. Mani Iyer

Palghat Mani Iyer, one of two of the greatest mridangam players ever, was born in 1912 in Palghat, Kerala and died in 1981. He was named Ramaswamy during Namakaranam (naming ceremony) but when introduced to the music world as a mridangam accompanist at the age of ten, he acquired the name "Mani."

He first studied with Palghat Subba Iyer and Kalpathy Viswanatha Iyer. Later with Thanjavur Vaidanatha Iyer. Mani came into prominence after accompanying Chembai Vaidanatha Bagavathar in a music concert at Madras.

He was unusually talented in rhythm and quickly mastered the technique of the art of playing mridangam from his gurus and
predecessors such as Azhaganambi Pillai, Dakshinamurthy Pillai and even studied
the temple drumming of Kerala (panchavadhyam, chenda, edakka, among others).

Before Mani Iyer’s arrival in the music scene, the two mridangists Alaganambi Pillai and Dakshinamurthy Pillai (also a kanjirist), dominated the art of percussion playing. The innovations of Mani changed the style of mridangam playing as Y. G. Doraisamy points out: "It was Mani Iyer who started the now prevalent trend of the mridangam, not just keeping the time with tekkas and moras, but actively accompanying the musical phrasing, so as to be a rhythmic running commentary, reproducing on the drum all the subtleties and rhythmic complexities of the musical composition."

Palghat Raghu, a disciple of Mani Iyer, describes his guru as a genius in that he
showed music followers the manner of blending with the music of the main artist in handling the kritis of every conceivable mood and tempo. By his consistent excellence he could raise the concert to
thrilling heights. It was Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer who outplayed kanjira player Dakshinamurthy Pillai and reclaimed the front seat on the stage for mridangam players. Mani Iyer also occasionally performed on kanjira.

Palani Subramania Pillai (c. 1940s)

Born in 1908 and died in 1962, never recognized formally with awards for his innovations in the art of mridangam and kanjira (most likely because of prejudice that he was not Brahmin). Palani Subramania Pillai was a contemporary of Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer. Equally skilled at mridangam and kanjira, he was a left handed player.

His technique on mridangam is said to have been the first to introduce the gumki or bending of the bass head by sliding and pressing the hand into the skin. His technique is said to have featured more rhythmic complexity while Mani Iyer featured more beauty in the phrases that he played and how they fit the music he was accompanying. Both players had extremely advanced rhythmic and accompanying skill, and there really is no comparing the two with regards to which was a better performer.

P. Subramania Pillai was a student of his father Pazhani Muthiah Pillai and later Dakshinamurthy Pillai. In concert, Iyer and Palani were each other's favorite to accompany with as Mani played mridangam while Subramania played kanjira. One story goes that during one of their concerts in the percussion solos they traded phrases for an entire hour each not being able to top the other.

 

Pudukottai Manpoondia Pillai

Born in 1859 and died in 1922, Manpoondia Pillai is considered to be the father of the Pudukottai school of percussion. He is also said to have invented the kanjira, which is not really true as the instrument and players existed before his time. What he is responsible for is introducing the kanjira to Carantic instrumental and vocal music beyond bhajans. His life story of a lantern bearer at the Pudukottai palace who rose to become a high ranking artist is one of triumph of the human spirit.

In his palace job in the mid-1800s he was exposed to dholak and thavil players and became fascinated with thavil. Having first learned a frame drum local to the area (known then as daff), he soon became a student of thavil (he was left handed) and learned from Tirugokarnam Mariyappan.

Manpoondia (he was also known as Mamundi) displayed an unusual skill in that he could play all of the patterns he was shown that required 2 hands with 1 hand.

He also redesigned the kanjira of his time by reducing the number of jingles from 3 pairs to a single pair and replaced the ghungroo pellet bells that were common as jingles at that time with coins as the pellet bells made too much sound that distracted singers and other musicians. He also may have been the first to use Bengal monitor lizard skin (Varanus bengalensis bengalensis) in place of goat skin on kanjira making the instrument more suitable for Carnatic music.

It was Manpoondia Pillai that introduced a more complex laya into Carnatic music with his kanjira in the form of korvais and morhas. He began accompanying bhajans and gained attention with his skill of being able with 1 hand to repeat anything a mridangam player could do with 2 hands at that time. Manpoondia Pillai is also said to have been influenced after hearing the mridangam playing of Narayanaswami Appa. Supposedly, after hearing Appa's playing, Pillai realized the tonal possibilities of melody oriented intricacies. This may have been how the bending technique on kanjira began to develop.

He began traveling around southern India to music centers introducing the kanjira and his skill at bhajan performances. Upon reaching Madras (now Chennai), Pillai was asked to accompany the singer Tiruvayyaru Subramaniya Iyer (also known as Patnam Subramaniya Iyer). Before the concert, Subramaniya Iyer challenged him and wanted to know what he was prepared to give up if he could not play what was sung at the concert. Pillai said that if he failed to play what was sung he was prepared to throw his kanjira into the sea and give it up completely. Subramaniya Iyer then said that if Pillai did play what was sung he would give up his place in the center of the stage to him and stop singing.

Subramaniya Iyer had prepared an intricate pallavi and sang it at the concert. Manpoondia Pillai heard it and played it back and started elaborating on it using his imagination. Subramaniya Iyer accepted defeat and decided to concede his place to Pillai. Manpoondia Pillai humbly declared that it was not his place, and that it was his desire to continue to accompany Subramaniya Iyer's music wherever he sang. The two went on to give numerous performances all over Madras and other places and this established the kanjira as a prominent instrument suited for accompanying in Carnatic music concerts. This is also how the kanjira player began sitting in front of the mridangam player because his skill level was higher than that of the typical mridangist at that time.

Manpoondia Pillai is also responsible for training the first Carnatic singer in his refined rhythmic concepts (Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer) as well as training percussionists Dakshinamurthy Pillai, Pazhani Muthiah Pillai, and Seithur Zamindar in his rhythmic style on kanjira and mridangam. This brought a much higher level of performance to the stage in such trio concerts with the singer, mridangam player and kanjira player all trained in this more refined rhythmic style.

In his last years, he renounced worldly life, becoming a sanyasi under the name of Murugananda Swamigal.

Mayavaram Somusundaram (2005)

One of the older performers of kanjira still playing at 78 years old. He began performing Carnatic concerts in 1947 and learned mridangam and kanjira from Boobadhiveli. Originally from Mayavaram, located now in Chennai.

 

N. Ganeshkumar (2005)

Born in 1964, Ganesh is a kanjira player specializing in fusion and has released the first instructional DVD for kanjira in the USA. He learned from T. H. Subash Chandran. Located in Chennai. Website.

Nerkunam S. Sankar (2005)

Former student of G. Harishankar. One of the few kanjira players that has learned only kanjira and has never studied mridangam. Originally from Nerkunam, now located in Chennai.

Neyveli B. Venkatesh (2005)

One of the few mridangam players that still performs on kanjira. Neyveli travels most of the year for perfor