Kadri Gopalnath

Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument.

Born in a Tulu speaking Jogi community of Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada to Taniyappa (a Naadaswara vidwan) and Gangamma, Gopalnath was inspired to learn the saxophone as a child after hearing it played by the Mysore Palace band set, although he took nearly 20 years to master the complexities of the western wind instrument. He was eventually crowned the "Saxophone Chakravarthy".

Gopalnath learnt to play Carnatic music on the saxophone from N. Gopalakrishna Iyer of Kalaniketan, Mangalore. He presented his first concert in the All India Radio, Mangaluru in 1978. In Madras, Gopalnath came in contact with the vocalist and mridangist guru T.V. Gopalkrishnan, who identified the youngster's potential and tutored him.

Gopalnath had to make certain modifications to the conventional alto saxophone to play Carnatic music. So successful was this adaptation that the great musician Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the doyen of Carnatic music, acknowledged Kadri Gopalnath as a true Carnatic music genius.

His maiden live performance was for the Chembai Memorial Trust. The 1980 Bombay Jazz Festival was a turning point for Gopalnath. John Handy, a jazz musician from California was present at the festival. Hearing Gopalnath play, Handy asked if he could go on stage and perform alongside him. So well did the two mesh, Handy in the jazz style and Gopalnath in the Carnatic style, that it became an instant hit with the audience. Gopalnath has participated in the Jazz Festival in Prague, the Berlin Jazz Festival, the International Cervantino Festival in Mexico, the Music Hall Festival in Paris, the BBC Promenade concert in 1994 at London, and has toured all over the world.

He cut many albums and recorded a number of cassettes and CDs. Together with jazz flautist James Newton, he recorded Southern Brothers. His production called 'East-West' is an audio-video presentation that, as the title suggests, is a fusion of Western and Indian music. This album took 6 months to produce and has compositions from Saint Tyagaraja, Beethoven and the like.

In 2005, Gopalnath began a collaboration with American saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa, which resulted in the 2008 album Kinsmen (Pi Recordings) and supporting US tour.

Gopalnath was also a famed teacher, having taught many prominent saxophonists around the world.