Sivamani

Schooled in both the Carnatic rhythmic tradition and Western Jazz drums, Sivamani is truly a World Percussionist - surrounding his kit with an array of instruments. He has played world over with some of the best International artistes & is also a part of World music outfits such as the Zakir Hussain World Drums Ensemble, SILK, Asia Electrik & Shraddha. Infact, no World tour of multi-Oscar and multi-Grammy winner A R Rehman is complete without Siva’s daunting presence. What makes him unique is not only his constant search for new techniques, new sounds & newer rhythmic configurations, but also his incredible showmanship. Siva (as he is fondly called) creates magic with just about anything from his conventional cymbals to the timbale to the batajon to the vastly unconventional shells and conches and "Biryani Kadai" (a popular cooking vessel in Asia). His style is deceptive for the uninitiated. Deeply profound and mysterious at one moment; tantalizing and exuberant at the next. However, augmenting the brute power, are his rhythmic style and harmony, which surround the discerning listener with warmth, joy and bliss. Siva, this rare phenomenon in the world of rhythm, is lucky to have inherited his rhythmic brilliance from his father S M Anandan, a well known drummer in the South Indian Film Industry, under whom he started his training. Siva was adept with his drumsticks even at the tender age of 7 and went on to give his first stage performance at the age of 12. His first studio break was playing for South Indian Master Creator K V Mahadevan. By the age of 13, he had a professional music career with recordings under the watchful eyes of Carnatic & light music legend S P Balasubramaniam. He was later inspired by the compositions and styles of international masters Noel Grant and Billy Cobham, with whom he later went on to share the stage at Rang Bhavan Mumbai. Siva's earliest experiments has been with Carnatic Maestros, Kunnaikudi Vaidyanathan, T V Gopalakrishnan as well as thavil masters Valayapatti Subramaniam and Pazhanivel and L. Shankar. His dream came true when he was invited to share the stage with Ustad Zakir Hussain along with Trilok Gurtu at Mumbai's famed Rang Bhavan - opening up myriad musical possibilities. He was later exposed to the great rhythm masters Vikku Vinayakram (Ghatam), T K Murthy (mridangam) and Late Nagarajan (Kanjira) and even started taking lessons from them. A sought after performer both on Live-shows and recordings, Siva is widely recognized as one of India's best drummers. One of the best pair of hands in the world of percussion, Ustaad Zakir Hussain in a live show presented him as a “phenomenon that walks the planet but once or twice in a century”. South Indian geniuses Illayaraja and A R Rehman and other Bollywood music directors all regularly engage his variety of percussion. He features along with legendary masters such as Billy Cobham, Vikku Vinayakram, Freddy Santiago, Terry Bozzio, Wil Calhoun, Myanta, Ranjit Barot, T K Murthy, Rikki Ray and Dr. L. Subramaniam commanding the respect of a true Master Percussionist. He is currently endorsing major International brands including ZILDJIAN, PEARL, AKG, amongst others. He is also considered as the 'lucky mascot' of the Champion IPL Cricket team CHENNAI SUPER KINGS. Hi, this is my official FB page for all my followers to stay in touch with me and my activities : S-I-V-A-M-A-N-I "Rhythm is God"