Percussion Concert with Christoph Haberer, Karthik Mani and Mrs. R. A. Ramamani September 29, 2011

Information on the Artist(s)
Christoph Haberer

Christoph Haberer, drummer and percussionist – or in the vernacular of his southern German "Alemannic" dialect, the "Drümmele Maa" (the drumming man) – is furthermore a composer, and a live and studio electronics expert.

Born in 1951 in Donaueschingen (Germany) he has performed with renowned jazz artists such as Lee Konitz, Benny Bailey, and James Newton. In many projects he worked along with percussionists of various styles such as Dou Dou N’daye Rose, Trilok Gurtu, Carlo Rizzo, and Robin Schulkowsky.

Haberer’s unique combination of computer-aided/live-triggered electronics and virtuoso percussion performance has enabled him to excel as a soloist at 'The Cologne Triennial', the Jazz Festival in Montreal, the European Broadcast Union in Helsinki, the "Deutschland-Promenade" in Guangzhou (China).

Famous Projects:

Solo project - POLYRITMIA (2011)

POLYRITMIA – a solo project in which Christoph Haberer performs (again) live on stage with acoustic drums and electronic percussion, with synthesizers and samplers.

Solo project - T R O M M E L Z E I T (2008)

The key note underlying this solo project is the conscious juxtaposition of sound patterns created by acoustic and electronic drumming.

Whilst playing the acoustic instruments, Haberer simultaneously operated all the electronic sounds, e.g. bass and marimba runs are integrated into his drum playing, cascades of electronic sounds are mixed with “natural cymbals”, loops are activated in the playing process and so on.

Karthik Mani

Karthik Mani hails from a family of musicians – his father, T.A.S. Mani is a renowned percussionist of "The Karnataka College of Percussion", and his mother R.A.Ramamani is a reputed ground breaking Carnatic vocalist who has performed all over the world and has pioneered the genre of Carnatic-jazz fusion. Karthik is a young and energetic percussionist and drummer with a solid foundation in South Indian Classical Music, who now follows in his father's footsteps. He shares a passion for drumming and has been playing since the age of five. He started learning both Vocal and Mridangam at a very early age. After a few years he showed more interest in Mridangam and other Percussion Instruments. At the age of 13 he had got the 3rd rank in the Karnataka State Junior Mridangam Examination.



For the past few years, he has been a part of internationally-renowned Carnatic percussion ensemble "TALA TARANGINI" (of the Karnataka College of Percussion), Laya Lahiri, Vrushti, Laya Taranga,and Laya Milana. He was also the Indian Percussionist for the Band "ARYA" founded by the famous vocalist Vasundhara Das. He had been privileged in playing for an album with the internationally renowned Jazz legend Saxophonist "Charlie Mariano” for the album "Om Keshav" which was a huge success worldwide.

Mrs. R. A. Ramamani

She is an outstanding vocalist, a much sought after performing artist, a demanding teacher and a brilliant composer. Blessed with a rich and mellifluous voice she sings with spontaneity and mastery over rhythm and melody. She specialises in vocal improvisations, complex rhythmic patterns and in Konnakol the traditional percussion language. She is a rare artist who has achieved the distinction of presenting a composition simultaneously set to two different rhythmic cycles. She has boldly experimented with the Western forms of music and has composed several melodic and rhythmic experimental pieces. She is the first Carnatic vocalist to have performed with national and international jazz bands.

The Karnataka Gana Kala Parishat conferred Ramamani with the award Ganakalashree. She is also the recipient of a number of awards which includes the Gayana Laya Samrat and Kala Tapasvi. Ramamani and T.A.S. Mani have performed with leading artists of western music at major international festivals. Together they have conducted many music workshops in different parts of the world.