With the tremendous success of Slumdog Millionaire and Smile Pinki, 2009 was the year of India at the Academy Awards.
Could 2011 be India's year at the Grammys?
Two Indian Americans -- Sanskrit chant vocalist Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon and jazz pianist-cum-composer Vijay Iyer -- have been nominated for awards at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, to be held in February in Los Angeles.
Tandon, a Chennai native who now doubles as a New York-based businesswoman, has been nominated in the Best Contemporary World Music Album category, for her Om Namo Narayanaya: Soul Call, a collection of Sanskrit chants. On the album, Tandon handled the vocals and vocal arrangements, while Tejendra Narayan Majumdar and Snehasish Majumdar did the orchestral arrangements.
The critically acclaimed Iyer, whose much-anticipated album Historicity earned phenomenal praise following its launch in 2009, has been nominated for the Best Jazz Instrumental Album award. Featuring Iyer's original compositions alongside an eclectic group of covers, the album is performed by Iyer's famed 'Vijay Iyer Trio', which features Iyer on the piano and long-time collaborators Marcus Gilmore on the drums and Stephan Crump on the bass.
Historicity has already had its day in the sun, in fact. Thanks in large part to its success, The Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards recently named Iyer their 2010 Musician of the Year, an honour previously awarded to jazz legends like Herbie Hancock and Ornette Coleman.