About
Postclassical tone poetry in a live digital form
Salim Nair is a postclassical tone poet working in the digital domain. Trained in Carnatic and Hindustani classical flute, he has expanded into jazz, hip hop, and cross-genre performance over the last three decades.
Artist Statement
Building a new idiom with a familiar vocabulary
One of Salim’s central artistic pursuits is to create a novel idiom while using a familiar musical vocabulary. By leaving the analogue world behind, he has expanded expressive freedom through his solo digital art-music project, The Salim Nair Band.
The current performance language combines raga-grounded composition, controller-led expressivity, and live systems where musical state drives projection and stage response in real time.
Band Affiliations
Performance history
Since August 2016
The Salim Nair Band
Solo postclassical digital performance project based in Kochi.
July 2006 — March 2011
Bamboo Jazz Quartet
Jazz quartet with Salim Nair as lead bansuri player.
April 2010 — present
Mandala
Kirtan ensemble (Philadelphia) with devotional music drawing from Indian, Turkish, Celtic, and Gregorian influences.
Independent Projects
Selected works and collaborations
Contributor — 2017
This Music Plants Trees 2
Curated by Aural Films (California).
0,1, Infinity
Multicity digital art-music concert project. First edition, Night in the Meadow, was presented at David Hall (CGH Earth) on November 26.
Agle and Cleopatra (2015)
A tone poem in six movements, dramatized by award-winning theatre group Lokadharmi (Kochi).
Saphalamee Yatra (2016)
Music rendition and dramatization of N. N. Kakkad’s poem, realized by Lokadharmi.
Contact
Bookings and media
For performances, media, and technical coordination, contact thesalimnairband@gmail.com.