U. Rajesh
Birth nameUppalapu Rajesh
AliasU. Rajesh,[1] Mandolin Rajesh[2]
Birth date17 May 1977 (age 49)[3]
OriginPalakollu, Andhra Pradesh, India[4]
InstrumentElectric mandolin
GenreIndian classical music, jazz fusion, world music
OccupationMusician, music director
Years active1983–present
Associated actsSrishti with singer Karthik

Uppalapu Rajesh popularly known as Mandolin Rajesh is an Indian mandolin player of Carnatic classical music, a music producer, and a composer.[5][6][7][8][9]

Career

His work with John McLaughlin's album Floating Point, received a Grammy nomination in 2009.[4] He was the youngest participant in the Magic Mandolin Festival, (Germany), has performed at the Lincoln Centre, New York City, and has given concerts in BBC Live at London, Melbourne Concert Hall, Cité de la Musique, Paris,[3] Greece,[10] Canada,[11] Middle-East, United States,[12] and Europe.[13][14]

He has performed live with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (with Dominique Di Piazza), KZN Philharmonic Orchestra,[15] and Closer home (with Stephen Devassy).[16][17][18][19] His music performance at New York in 2006, was voted among the best concerts of the year, by The New Yorker. He was specially honored by the President of India, in April 2007.[20][21]

He has released solo albums, namely – Coromandel Duet (with A.K.Palanivel), Amalgamation, Vikku Vinayakaram, Spirits, Following My Heart and Into the Light.[3][22][23][24][25][26][27] The musical album Samjanitha included himself, U. Srinivas, Zakir Hussain, Sivamani, and George Brook.[28][17][29] U. Rajesh has been involved in tours and recordings with many music artists in both North and South India, such as Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan, Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Mike Marshall, Sivamani and Pete Lockett, Karsh Kale and Greg Ellis, Bickram Ghosh, Kamal Sabri, Niladri Kumar etc.[23][30][31] U. Rajesh in 2014, teamed with singer Karthik to form the band Srishti.[32]

Personal life

U. Rajesh was born on 17 May 1977 at Palakol, Andhra Pradesh, as the youngest child of U. Satyanarayana (father) and Kantham (mother).[3] He is the younger brother of late U. Srinivas, a notable mandolin player in Carnatic classical music, in India.[33][34][35][36]

In his childhood, his father and brother were his tutors in music. He started playing carnatic classical music on mandolin at the age of 6, and performed his first concert, at Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham in the presence of Shri. Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi. U. Rajesh is an ardent devotee of the Paramacharya of Kanchi. He is also a follower and devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and has performed before him on several occasions.[17][3]

He and his brother have performed in concerts together, and have released musical albums together.[22][37][38][39] He is one of the directors of the music school, Srinivas Institute of World Music (SIOWM, named after U. Srinivas), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which is providing free musical tuition to the students.[40][23]

Concerts

Starting at the age of 10, Rajesh started performing along with his brother. Rajesh was initiated to music by Kanchi Pamacharya and has given performances in over 50 countries. He continues to perform in carnatic classical and fusion music.[41][42]

Controversy

In 2018, as a part of what was widely considered as India's #MeToo movement, singer Chinmayi shared an account of a minor who was allegedly sexually harassed by Rajesh.[43][44]

References

  1. ^ "U. Rajesh". AllMusic. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ "Voice and instrument merge seamlessly". The Hindu. 17 March 2016. Archived 17 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "Amalgamation: U. Rajesh". MusicIndiaOnline. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Soul Strings: U Rajesh on the legacy of playing an Italian lute in the Carnatic classical system". The Indian Express. 19 August 2017. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ "Mandolin Rajesh and Apache Indian Clips". BBC. Archived 9 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ "Mandolin Rajesh". BBC. 29 March 2015. Archived 9 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ^ "Mandolin U. Rajesh & Friends". iTunes Store. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ "U. Rajesh". gaana.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ^ "U. Rajesh". bookmyshow.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ "The master of mandolin U. Rajesh in Athens". elinepa.org. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ^ "Exciting North-South Indian Music Concert in Toronto". raagmala.ca. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ "BALAM Dance Theatre to Debut at International Dharma Conference in Edison, New Jersey". musicalamerica.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ "Phoenix Marketcity celebrates Bengaluru Dasara Habba". eventshigh.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Mandolin man warms up to the ramp". Deccan Chronicle. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  15. ^ "Homepage". kznphil.org. Archived 23 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ^ "When music showed the way to defeat cancer". oneindia.com. 7 June 2015. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ^ "Mandolin magic". The Hindu. 27 August 2010. Archived 9 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ^ "Tribute To Mandolin Shrinivas by U. Rajesh and world music ensemble". rasika.org. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ^ "Mandolin maestro's humble beginnings". Sunday Times (Johannesburg). Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ^ "Tribecastan; also U Rajesh". townecc.tunestub.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ^ "Sai Bhajans (Instrumental) – Volume 6". Archived 23 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ^ "A Mandolin Duet featuring Mandolin Maestro U. Srinivas & his brother U. Rajesh". sruti.org. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ^ "Mandolin U Rajesh Music Director". justdial.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  24. ^ "Mandolin U Rajesh into The Light". AllMusic. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  25. ^ "U. Rajesh". discogs. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  26. ^ "U. Rajesh". tidal.com. Archived 23 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ^ "Spirits". Amazon. Archived 9 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  28. ^ "U Srinivas – Samjanitha CD". cduniverse.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  29. ^ "U. Shrinivas: Samjanitha". AllMusic. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  30. ^ Swaminathan, G. (22 December 2016). "Where speed ruled". The Hindu. Archived 23 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  31. ^ "Noida – HCL Concerts – at Shiv Nadar School Noida . #arts #music". tennews.in. 7 September 2016. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  32. ^ "U and I". The Hindu. 3 December 2014. Archived 3 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  33. ^ "Brother to pay musical tribute to Mandolin maestro Srinivas". The Times of India. 26 September 2014. Archived 7 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  34. ^ "Band of friends". The Hindu. 25 February 2015. Archived 9 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  35. ^ "ICMA Foundation". icmafoundation. Archived 19 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  36. ^ "A Broken Record". openthemagazine.com. 3 December 2014. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  37. ^ "Mandolin U Srinivas – Mozart of Indian Classical Music". riyazapp.com. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  38. ^ "A mandolin and a miracle, remembering U Srinivas". thenewsminute.com. 25 September 2015. Archived 3 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  39. ^ Martin, Douglas (October 2014). "U. Shrinivas, 45, Indian Mandolin Virtuoso With Global Reach, Dies". The New York Times. Archived 2 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  40. ^ "Ray of Hope – Sri U. Rajesh". saivrinda.org. Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  41. ^ "Milapfest cancels UK events featuring U Rajesh, mandolin player named in #MeToo allegations". Firstpost. 2018-11-01. Archived 22 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  42. ^ "Singer names celebrities on #Metoo". Gulf Today. 2018-10-12. Archived 22 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  43. ^ "Milapfest cancels UK events featuring U Rajesh, mandolin player named in #MeToo allegations". Firstpost. 2018-11-01. Archived 22 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  44. ^ "Singer names celebrities on #Metoo". Gulf Today. 2018-10-12. Archived 22 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-11-22.