Radha Thomas & Aman Mahajan
piano and voice
A delicate and nuanced duo, Mahajan and Thomas flow in and out of each others’ consciousness effortlessly, creating original, contemporary jazz from India.
They have made music together for over a decade, with multiple collaborations, live concerts, tours, club appearances and video recordings since 2011. Based on a solid foundation of jazz, their music occasionally reflects Indian classical music. The result is an intricate, harmonically complex and fulfilling experience.
The Morning After, from Bangalore Blues (2020)
PERFORMANCES
π = duo: piano and voice
∆ = trio: ft. Ramjee Chandran on guitar
∑ = The Radha Thomas Ensemble
30.03.2025 π Indian Music Experience, Bangalore
23.03.2025 π Courtyard Koota, Bangalore
21.12.2025 π Dorian House, Auroville
15.11.2024 π 365AS, Hyatt Regency, Chennai
29.12.2023 π The Burrow, Bangalore
24.12.2023 π Sly Granny, Indiranagar, Bangalore
07.10.2023 ∑ Catholic Club, Bangalore
05.10.2023 π The Burrow, Bangalore
31.08.2023 ∑ Bangalore International Center
24.05.2023 π Sly Granny, Brigade Road, Bangalore
17.12.2022 ∑ Jazz Manouche at Atta Galatta, Bangalore
16.12.2022 ∑ Jazz Manouche at The Courtyard, Bangalore
23.10.2021 ∆ NĀVU, Bangalore International Center
15.12.2020 ∆ Cooke Town, Bangalore (livestream)
03.12.2020 π Bangalore Blues album launch (livestream)
29.11.2019 π Legal Summit at Bangalore International Center
16.11.2019 ∆ The Studio, Cooke Town, Bangalore
19.10.2019 ∆ Bangalore Golf Club
12.10.2019 ∑ Catholic Club, Bangalore
13.04.2019 π The Blue Room, Bangalore
29.06.2019 ∑ Jagriti, Bangalore
10.05.2019 ∆ Urban Solace, Bangalore
20.04.2019 ∑ Bangalore International Center
29.11.2018 ∆ Hype, Shangri-La, Bangalore
19.10.2018 π Swarnabhoomi Music Academy, Chennai
24.11.2017 ∑ ICCR Jazz Festival, New Delhi
24.07.2015 π Dimitrie Ghica Park, Sinaia, Romania
23.07.2015 π King’s Valley Hall, Mara Hotel, Sinaia, Romania
Thomas is a writer as well, and focuses a lot on the lyrics which are quirky (Rendu Dosai features several dozen dosais, some of which you may have never heard of) and sometimes poignant, like the song Load Shedding, which is a Mahajan composition. Mahajan wrote the tune after experiencing repeated power cuts in his Cooke Town home and Thomas seized on the opportunity to have a little wry fun.
Radha Thomas & Aman Mahajan — Load Shedding
Videos and collaborations FROM LOCKDOWN, 2020–2021
[2021] Radha Thomas & Aman Mahajan – The Midnight Sun, by Lionel Hampton
[2020] Radha Thomas & Aman Mahajan — Summertime, by George Gershwin
Vocalese is a new addition to their repertoire. It is a specific jazz vocal style that originated alongside hard bop in the 50s in America. Singers like Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson and King Pleasure took to writing words to the solos of famous horn players like Coleman Hawkins, Wardell Gray, James Moody and even Miles Davis. Thomas has taken the solos of Chet Baker as he performed famous jazz standards and she has written lyrics to them so the songs now have a different sparkle.
[2021] You Go To My Head by Fred Coots, with Maciek Szczyciński on bass, from Ustanow, Poland and Bartosz Mikolaj Nazaruk from Warsaw, Poland
[2022] My Foolish Heart by Victor Young, in collaboration with Swedish vocalist Marie Hagen
PRESS
Excuse Bangalore artistes Radha Thomas and Aman Mahajan if they seem a little hurried while performing at Take 5 in Indiranagar on April 25. The duo that comprises musical outfit ‘2 For The Road’ will be rushing to The Piano Man in Delhi on May 10, and then boarding a flight to Romania. They will be representing India at EUROPAFest in Bucharest, a prestigious global music festival. —Khushali Madhwani | Bangalore Mirror
…vocalist Radha Thomas and Berklee-educated pianist, composer and arranger Aman Mahajan will fly the Bangalore flag at the EUROPA Fest in Bucharest, Romania. The prestigious 2-week festival (08 May through 24 May this year) comprises performances by over 300 artists from 45 different locations. Thomas and Mahajan are the only featured artists from India. —Jazz Hack | Bangalore Mag
Radha Thomas & Aman Mahajan — A Case of the Bangalore Blues