Having started his musical journey as a two-year-old, Lydian Nadhaswaram completed his Grade-8 piano levels at Trinity College of Music at the tender age of 10. The prodigy went on to study the piano further at AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory in Chennai before winning the CBS The World’s Best title in 2019. Now, at 16, his first independent jazz album, Chromatic Grammatic — which launched on July 12 — demonstrates the maturity of his prodigal years.

He tells us, “There are 12 keys in music, and every song in the album is performed to one key.” It was an attempt to prove that jazz requires just as much method as any other genre. For a musician adept at more than 17 instruments, the lure of jazz feels almost natural. He admits, “It is my favourite genre since it has no restrictions.”