Founded by Kavichandran Alexander
Water Lily Acoustics was founded in 1985 in Santa Barbara, California, by producer and engineer Kavichandran Alexander. Named after his mother Lily, the label began with a simple mission: to record the world’s greatest musicians — especially masters of Indian classical music — with the respect and sonic fidelity they deserve.
Using minimalist techniques, custom analog equipment, the Blumlein microphone array, and beautiful natural acoustics (churches, halls, no dead studios), every Water Lily recording aims to capture the living essence of the performance.
From Grammy-winning East-West collaborations like A Meeting by the River (Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt) to solo masterworks by Ali Akbar Khan, L. Subramaniam, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Water Lily has built a catalog of pure, unprocessed sound that continues to inspire audiophiles and music lovers worldwide.
