Anoushka Shankar, Arooj Aftab, Falu, Ricky Kej, and Chandrika Tandon Nominated for Grammy Awards
- They are joined by firs timers like Indian Americans Radhika Vekaria and Noshir Mody, and Indian vocalist, violinist and composer Varijashree Venugopal.
Indian American musician Anoushka Shankar has been nominated for a Grammy Award for her album “Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn,” in the Best New Age, Ambient, Or Chant Album category. It was recorded during sessions with British producer and composer Peter Raeburn in his two Soundtree Studios in Los Angeles. According to a review in Pitchfork, the album “picks up where its predecessor left off, moving from the warm, cozy intimacy of the late afternoon to the more ambiguous emotional landscape of the deepest night.”
The daughter of legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar has a second nomination — in the Best Global Music Performance category — for featuring on British multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jacob Collier’s song “A Rock Somewhere,” along with Bengaluru-based vocalist, violinist and composer Varijashree Venugopal. Joining Shankar in this section is Pakistani American musician Arooj Aftab, who has been nominated for her song“Raat Ki Rani.” The single is from her album “Night Reign,” which is nominated for Best Alternative Jazz Album.
In 2022, Aftab became the first Pakistani woman to win a Grammy as she took home
the inaugural award for Best Global Music Performance with “Mohabbat.” She was also nominated in the Best New Artist category but lost to singer-songwriter and actress Olivia Rodrigo. She also performed her Grammy-nominated song “Usher Na,” along with Shankar, at the premier ceremony before the main awards.
Music composer Ricky Kej is nominated for the fourth time for his album “Break of Dawn.” The North Carolina-born, Bangalore-based Kej is a three-time Grammy Award winner. Venugopal, who received her first Grammy nomination, contributed to Kej’s album as well.
Also included in the Best New Age, Ambient, Or Chant Album category is Indian American artist Radhika Vekaria’s album “Warriors Of Light” and entrepreneur and artist Chandrika Tandon’s album “Triveni,” with flutist Wouter Kellerman and cellist Éru Matsumoto. The Los Angeles-based Vekaria was born in the UK. Her parents are from East Africa and her grandparents are from India.
Tandon, who was nominated for a Best Contemporary World Music Grammy for her album, “Soul Call,” is a member of the Board of Overseers of NYU’s business school, a member of the NYU Board of Trustees, and leads the NYU President’s Global Council. A former partner at McKinsey and Company, she is chair of Tandon Capital Associates, a financial advisory firm she founded in 1992.
Indian American singer Falguni Shah, popularly known as Falu, is also nominated in the Best Folk Album category for “American Patchwork Quartet,” also featuring multi-Grammy award-winning guitarist and vocalist Clay Ross, acclaimed Issei jazz bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and renowned jazz drummer Clarence Penn.
In 2002, Falu won a Grammy for Best Children’s Album for “A Colorful World. This is Falu’s third nomination. She was nominated in 2018 in the same category for her children’s album “Falu’s Bazaar,” a trilingual album is sung in English, Hindi, and Gujarati, with traditional instrumentation.
Originally from Mumbai, Falu moved to the U.S. in 2000 and was appointed as a visiting lecturer at Tufts University. Her subsequent career here has led to a series of high-profile collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Wyclef Jean, Philip Glass, Ricky Martin, Blues Traveler and A. R. Rahman amongst others. She was appointed Carnegie Hall’s ambassador of Indian Music in 2006, and has performed for President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. She was a featured performer at the Time-100 gala in 2009. Her first album “Falu” was featured in Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s “Beyond Bollywood” exhibit as representative of the voice of Indian American trendsetting artists. She currently performs and writes with her band, Falu & Karyshma, an internationally recognized supergroup known for its ability to weave together the intensity of rock, the improvisation of jazz, and the intricacies of India’s deepest musical traditions.
Another artist receiving his first Grammy nomination is Mumbai-born musician Noshir Mody who is included in the Best Global Music Performance category. He is part of the song “Kashira” by Masa Takumi, along with Ron Korb and Dale Edward Chung. Mody, a self-taught musician, moved to the U.S. at the age of 22, and “honed his guitar skills and immersed himself in the vibrant New York City jazz scene,” according to his website. His latest album, “Abstractions,” is described as “a masterful blend of innovative compositions and improvisations that resonate emotionally.”
The 2025 Grammys are scheduled to take place on Feb. 2, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.