Anupam Kunapuli

Anupam Kunapuli is a jazz pianist and composer based in Hyderabad, and most evenings he can be found at a keyboard somewhere in the city. Blind himself, he names Ray Charles as his biggest inspiration, in the company of Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.

He started learning piano at age eight, learned western notation through Braille books, and in 2018 completed a summer program at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He plays jazz and jazz fusion. The fusion comes from his Carnatic training, the classical tradition of South India: he works its ragas, the melodic frameworks of Indian classical music, into jazz.

His albums include Seeking (2019), his first fusion record, and My Expressions, in three chapters (2024). The second chapter pairs jazz with contemporary sounds and includes Beaver, a nod to Herbie Hancock’s Chameleon.