Luiz Carlos Coutinho
(congas, bongos, cajon)

Coutinho is a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   This superb Brazilian percussionist has been performing since the age of seven touring regularly with various Afro-Brazilian musical acts such as “Thomas Lima and Orchestra”, “Banda Caffe”, “Maracatamba”, Afro cultural Groupo “Olodum”with master Neguinho Do Samba, “Yamenja” and many others. In North America, Coutinho has offered his unique percussive talents to various musical groups ranging from traditions such as Brazilian, African, Reggae, Cuban, Salsa, Middle Eastern, Indian and Gypsy.

Poovalur Srinivasan
Hand Percussion
(Mridangam & Kanjira)

POOVALUR SRINIVASAN (SRIJI) a prolific composer, performer, educator studied South Indian Classical music from his father P.A. Venkataraman. For over three decades Poovalur has performed with the leading artist from both South and North Indian Classical traditions. Since his move to theUnited States Poovalur has performed and recorded with artists such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Bela Fleck, Mark O’ Connor, John Bergamo, Glen Velez to name a few. Poovalur has composed several pieces portraying the South Indian idioms. Poovalur has received several awards from leading institutions, and the album Tabula Rasa, where he has composed and performed with Bela Fleck, V. M. Bhatt and J.P. Chen was nominated for a Grammy. He is the founding member of the group 'Brahma'. He found and directs the 'SNEW' and the 'South Indian Cross Cultural Ensemble'. He is currently a faculty at the University of North Texas. He has taught at Calarts and the San Diego State University.

Steve Marcum
(percussion)

Steve is a Califoria native with an active background in performance art and dance. Steve's inspirations came from attending West African drum workshop with master drummer Baba Olatunji. Since then he has continued the study and performance of other world musical styles ranging from Brazil, the Caribbean, and under the guidance of Rajamani – India, Middle East and Spain. Along with Rajamani's ensemble he also performs with the Afro-Brazilian band Sambaxe. He is also known for doing children's programs including the popular Mr. Steve Drum Show Extravaganza.

Nagavalli Medicharla
(voice)

Sean Orr
(violin)

Sean Orr is a violinist which much soul and passion. He has been moving crowds with his soulful and fast violin bowing around the United States. He has played from traditional country to Irish/Celtic to Western Swing to Rock ‘n Roll styles of music. He has lived in Saudi Arabia as a child and his violin playing for Oliver Rajamani brings back memories of his early childhood in the Middle East. Besides his superb violin skills, he is also a very accomplished classical guitarist.

http://www.i-ocean.com/sean/

Indu Vaidya

Born and raised in India, Indu is a natural born dancer. Dancing is in her DNA. She performed on stage when children usually are still stumbling over. Since, then she has been actively involved with the dance form of self expression. She covers the entire gamut of dances from Jazz to Indian classical to the more popular bollywood gyration. More importantly, however, she is a choreographer and a dance innovator. While, she has acquired the required discipline from the training of the classical dance form of many eastern schools, her performances on the TV and live audiences have always been Indu’s own creations.

Indu gives dance lessons in Austin, TX, where she conducts classes for children aged 6 onwards to retired enthusiasts. Her ever increasing popular class, mainly for the Indian community, focuses on the pleasure of dancing.

Indu can be contacted at Indu@vaidya.us for performances, instructions, and choreography.

Joey Santori
(Bass, Cello)

Joey Santori (bass, cello) is a multi-instrumentalist. he composes and performs live electronic music playing electiric and acoustic instruments such as bass, sarod, oud, dumbek, guitar, saz, and cello, solo as Mission One, the Seed Knowledge Collective band Noon, The Alpha Rhythm, the electonica duo, Santori & Montoya, He can be also caught performing and recording with various other Texas acts such as The Ultraviolet Catastrophe with Paco Ahlgren, David Garza, Laura Scarborough, and Shane Bartell.

Elisa Rodriguez

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Elisa Rodriguez began dancing ballet at age 15. By age 19 she had enrolled in Ballet Austin’s academy where she trained for four years and performed in several ballets with the company. She discovered flamenco and after graduating from The University of Texas in Austin, she moved to Seville, Spain where she lived and perfected flamenco for seven years. She has studied with many amazing artists and choreographers such as Manolo Marin, Manuel Betanzos, Pilar Ortega, Adela Campallo, Pastora Galvan, El Torombo, La Canela, and completed workshops with Javier Latorre and Maria del Mar Moreno. She toured Canada in 2003, as the guest soloist in the production Spain Meets Canada II, under the direction of Kari Alba. As a belly dancer, Elisa also studied in Seville with Barbara Baretto from Brazil, and has performed in several Moroccan establishments in Spain and in the USA. Elisa continues to incorporate Middle Eastern dance in her own choreographies. She holds her Pilates certification with Polestar Education and has created the Andalusi Dance Class to promote health through movement.

Shango Dely
(congas, bongos, cajon)

Shango is a native of Colombia and was born into a family of musicians. He studied latin percussion under his fathers guidance from early childhood. He has won innumerable awards for his drumming skills. In America, Shango has performed with Grammy award winners Emilio Estefan, and Carlos Vives amongst many others. He has also recorded with the internationally known star Carlos Santana and DMX.

www.shangodely.com

Alby Roblejo
(riqq, daff, bhodran, cajon, kanjira)

John Bradley Houser
(Bass guitar, Sentir)

Purna Bajekal

Purna has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She continues to enjoy studying and performing many styles of dance such as ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop as well as traditional Indian Bharata Natyam. In addition to dancing, Purna loves to sing! She studies dance at Austin Dance India with her mother, Anuradha Naimpally. Purna performs on a dance team and has participated in many festivals and multicultural events around Central Texas.