The Yoginis Indian Jazz Project
Yoginis Indian Jazz Project Musicians
Besides the primary composers Yogi, Vishal, and Ujwal, many great musicians in both India and the USA have contributed to the project. Browse the bios of these important contributing musicans.
Yogi McCaw - bandleader, composer, keyboards. Having played since age 6, and appeared with many rock, R&B, jazz, and world music groups, Yogi brings a unique and very diverse perspective to composing and performing. In addition to the Indian Jazz project, he leads the Yoginis World Jazz Band which performs American Jazz alongside Brazilian-, Latin-, and African-influenced originalsongs and well-known favorites from these styles. He has also worked with the two-time Juno award winning African balafonist Naby Camara, the acclaimed Red Hot Blues Sisters, Bollywood playback singer Chandana Dixit, and Jamaica's Selassie I-Soldier Reggae Band. He currently performes with the Afro-jazz group Comfort Food in Seattle, and collaborates with Chinese pop-singer Shanel Hsu, and American R&B singers Stacey Israel and Tena Duberry.
Vishal Nagar - Tablas, composing. A master of Indian Classical Tabla as well as collaborative contemporary music, Vishal has worked with artists such as Pandit Birju Maharaj, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Vidushi Prabha Atre, Vidushi Urmila Nagar, Vidushi Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Vidhwan Trichur Ramachandran, Pandit Satish Vyas, Pandit Madhup Mudgal, and Pandit Ramesh Misra. Vishal has also collaborated with African drum legend Babatunde Olatunji, Santana drummer Michael Shrieve, Carmona Flamenco, violinist Eyvind Kang, Ghanaian guitarist Koo Nimo, and famed saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Vishal was initiated under the guidance of the esteemed Late Ustad Latif Khan and then trained under Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan.
Ujwal Nagar - Vocals, composing. Ujwal is a student of Urmila Nagar, a famous Kathak and Hindustani music exponent and also received training under the guidance of the late Ustad Bashir Ahmed Khan of Sikar. He has attained the musical degrees – ‘Sangeet Prabhakar’ and ‘Sangeet Ratnakar’. He visits Gwalior regularly to receive instruction from Pt. Sriram Umdekar. Ujwal has won numerous national inter-University music competitions and was awarded the Sahitya Kala Parishad Scholarship the by Government of India for his relentless pursuit of Indian classical music. Ujwal’s current ongoing collaborative work with the group ‘Advaita’ has been greatly appreciated by classical music connoisseurs as well as the world music listeners.