From drumline to Indian and Western classical music, Neel Agrawal is a multi-dimensional musician who has embedded himself in a wide variety of musical styles. As a world percussionist, Neel is able to cultivate and foster a spiritual experience among listeners through his instruments without compromising expressiveness or technical expertise.
(http://www.neelagrawal.com/#music)
Solo Performance @ UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology
In this abbreviated video, Neel performs on snare drum, tabla, darbuka, and then drum set:
Can’t Kill Afrika - SETI X [Prod. by Te'Amir] ft. Neel Agrawal on Tabla
Currently based in Los Angeles, CA, Neel has been involved in speaking out against the 2015 LAPD shooting of Charly “Africa” Leundeu Keunang, a homeless man who resided on Skid Row:
Solo Show and Interview with EMW Bookstore
Following a solo show at EMW, we had the wonderful opportunity to interview Neel. Here’s an excerpt on ideas regarding his music and the topic of borders:
“Confluence, in the literal sense, is rivers coming together. Water coming together. We’re also just talking about everything coming together. Ideology. Genres. Music. People. When something flows into something else, there are no defined borders, it’s just flowing in. That’s why I was thinking about confluence, because it’s more of a fluid border, between water, people, cultures, identities, everything — that’s what I’m trying to build here. I’m not just playing notes, I want people to know that there’s a deeper understanding behind this.”
See the full interview here.
