Hyderabad-based jazz pianist and composer, Anupam Kunapuli, has been playing jazz for over a decade, while overcoming many challenges including blindness. He is greatly inspired by jazz legends Thelonious Monk and the genius of blind pianist Ray Charles. Kunapuli has released two albums that consists of a blend of jazz with Indian classical sounds and recently released his third album in November 2024.

Anupam Kunapuli who plays the keyboard and piano, was one of the many performers at the Mumbai Piano Day on Saturday 28^th September 2024 at the Tata Theatre, NCPA. He captured the audience’s attention with his playing, not his blindness.

In an email interview, 39 year old Anupam Kunapuli shares his story on his blindness and his musical journey.

We understand you began learning the keyboard at the age of 8 and later lost your eyesight?

I was born with a rare congenital condition called Hirschsprung’s disease which affects the large intestines. I had many operations during my childhood and later at the age of 8, I started losing my peripheral vision and becoming partially sighted with about 60 percent vision. The doctors said that I was suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative congenital condition. By the age of 12, I lost my vision completely. At the age of 8, to cheer me up and to keep me occupied, my parents introduced me to music and bought a 5 octave keyboard for me. For a short while, a tutor used to come home and teach me some basics. Once he left, I used to fiddle around with it all by myself.

What were the obstacles that you faced learning the instrument as a blind musician?

I wanted to learn to play the keyboard and piano. But for almost 10 years or more we struggled to find a tutor. By the time I lost all my sight at the age of 12, from 1996 to 2009, I did not have any teacher. The problem was that western music is mostly notation based and since I was blind, many tutors candidly told us they did not know how to teach a blind person. My mother did some research and got some western notation books in braille from London. That’s how I got to learn braille and western notation in braille.

So did a tutor finally come to teach you?

In 2009, I found a tutor, Edwin Williams, who taught me all the basics for 2 years.  During this time I met an elderly gentleman Mr. Harish. He was good with notation. He used to come home and read out notations of jazz standards. I used to type them in braille. This way, with his help, I had written several jazz standards. But I did not have any idea of jazz basics, cycles or anything. It took some more time to learn them. During all these years, I was learning carnatic vocal music. This has really helped me understand ragas and use them in my compositions later on.

Did you move to taking any exams from Trinity college of London?

So after learning the jazz basics, I did Grade III of Trinity College of Music and in 2013-14, we moved from Chennai to Hyderabad. Here, in 2014, I did Grade IV of ABRSM (an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom) under training of the late Joseph Thomas. After that, I learnt jazz from a gospel jazz pianist Chanti Soloman. He is from MI Hollywood Institute. He was a stern but loving teacher, and also a good friend. One day in early 2018, I came to know while browsing the internet that Berklee College of Music, Boston was offering a 3 month summer course. Normally, they select students by live auditioning in cities like Bengaluru and Delhi. But in my case they asked me to send YouTube links of my works and selected me for admission to the course. I went to Boston and completed the course in May-August 2018. In November 2023, I passed ABRSM Grade 5 in Jazz taking the exam in NCPA.

You had a band called The Anupam Kunapuli Trio and later a band named No Boundaries.

I used to have a band called The Anupam Kunapuli Trio but the band members happened to move to other cities and our band disbanded. No Boundaries is still on and I am looking for good band mates.

How do you converse to your bandmates on the music you are playing and what is your style?

After selecting a song, I discuss the sequence, as to who will play the lead and discuss and fix certain bars to improvise for each of us. I tell the drummer to give a small roll or a turnaround on which others can come in. This is what I learnt in Berklee, “listening and giving space”, communicating with other musicians without eye contact or notation.

You released a digital album ‘Seeking’ containing 7 songs. Can you tell us something about the album?

‘Seeking’ is my first fusion album. Since I learnt both jazz and carnatic, I wanted to experiment with mixing both genres to bring out new sounds. All the songs in my album have my imaginative stories.  Recently I released another album ‘My Expressions’ which is also a jazz fusion.

How many hours do you devote to playing the piano and what is your process of learning a song?

In the morning and the afternoon I practice for about 3 hours on my upright Ritmuller Piano. In the evening, I perform at 2 star hotels in the city for about 3 and a half hours, 6 days a week. My process of learning a song has two methods. One, I go through the YouTube Piano tutorials for western songs. Two, for Indian songs I listen to the songs and try to memorize them.

What are your earliest memories of playing the keyboard?

My mother often tells me that once I made a tune that was good and named it Pyramids. It seems it was in Keeravani raga. At that time, I was 9 years old and did not really know much music or much about composing.

You blend jazz with Indian classical sounds, what is the process like?

When I take a certain raga, I will see what the notes in that raga are matching with western music. Then I compose a tune and match with corresponding chords.

Have you ever felt that your blindness gives you an advantage over other pianists?

No, certainly not. You see, the world is a competitive place. You need to compete and work hard to move forward and realize your dreams. I do not think my blindness gives any advantage to me over other pianists.

Who are your musical inspirations and what music do you usually listen to?

Well, my first inspiration was Ray Charles, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and Adele. They are my western heroes. My inspirations for Indian music are Mandolin Srinivas, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, T M Krishna, Kanya Kumar garu and of course A R Rehman. I listen to Jazz, Carnatic, Soft Rock, R&B, western fusion like Enigma, Deep Forest.

You are also a big fan of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). How closely do you follow the game and who are your heroes?

I am a great fan of WWE. I have been watching WWE since I was 7 or so. In 2015 I was selected as ‘Fan of the Week’ by Ten Sports Channel for a national telecast with Mark Henry, a WWE superstar. In 2017, I attended the WWE live event in Delhi and got to meet some of my favorite superstars like Sasha Banks, Kane, Bray Wyatt and Charlotte. In September 2023, Sony Sports interviewed me for a telecast when the WWE live event took place in Hyderabad. I was fortunate to watch WWE live events 5 times so far.  My favorite heroes are Roman Reigns, The Undertaker, Bray Wyatt and Chyna.

You’ve fallen in love with playing the piano, has cupid struck you?

Oh no, not yet. Cupid should hit some nice girl to fall for me.

What advice would you give children or someone with a similar handicap?

To children, yes, if they have a passion for music, then they should get a good teacher and learn properly and have patience. To someone with a similar handicap, I’d say, follow your heart, do not fear. With so much assistive technology around nowadays you can pursue nearly anything you want.

What are your future plans and do you have plans to collaborate with any musicians?

I would like to release more albums, form a band and participate in national and international music festivals. I would also like to collaborate with musicians in the US and Europe. And of course it is a long time dream to meet and work with A R Rehman.

Anyone who watches you play piano and the first thing that they think is, 'How does he do that?' What is your response to people who say this?

I think it is some hard work I suppose.

Do you think your disability is an ability in disguise?

No, not at all, because of my disability I had to face many challenges.

You recently released an album in November 2024. Can you tell us something about the album and the songs in it?

I released the album called ‘My Expressions - Chapter 2’ on 30^th November 2024. Prior to that on 14th June 2024 I released ‘My Expressions - Chapter 1’. This Chapter 2 has four songs composed and arranged by me on Pro Tools. First song Beaver is a song inspired from Herbie Hancock's Chameleon. Second song Kiss of a Serpent is about a secretive serpent which preys on its victims and slithers away. Third one Lost in Universe is where I am floating in the unending universe fascinated by its mysteries. The fourth song Resurrection is one where anyone feeling low can bounce back and come from behind to show the world that he or she can achieve something great.

What is the sound of the album like?

These songs are a mix of jazz and contemporary music and more like film scores where I am trying make people to feel these songs and imagine with me and bring out our positive vibes.

Photo: Courtesy of the Artist

Interviewed By Verus Ferreira