PRASANNA, DAVID GILMORE, MIKE POPE, RODNEY HOLMES ENTHRALL THE AUDIENCE IN CHENNAI
SWARNABHOOMI ACADEMY OF MUSIC CELEBRATES MADRAS DAY WITH THE FOUR WORLD-RENOWNED MUSICIANS
Chennai, August 22, 2009: Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music [SAM], the professional music college being established at MARG Swarnabhoomi, by MARG Limited, India's fastest growing integrated infrastructure company, presented the 'Prasanna, David Gilmore, Rodney Holmes & Mike Pope Live Concert' today, commemorating the 'Madras Day' at the Centenary Hall, University of Madras.
The concert, which was a blend of western & carnatic music, including vocal, was performed by the musicians and select students, who participated in the week-long SAM's 'Unlock your potential', the first-ever fully residential international performance workshop for musicians in India at MARG Tapovan, a 77 acre nature reserve signature project of MARG Ltd.
Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, headed by its President Mr Prasanna, conducted the music performance workshop, from August 17-22, 2009, directed by Prasanna. It comprised an all-star faculty of Prasanna and guitarist David Gilmore [Wayne Shorter, Joss Stone, Trilok Gurtu], bassist Mike Pope [Chick Corea and the Elektric Band, Al Di Meola, Michael Brecker] and 8-time Grammy Award winning drummer Rodney Holmes [Santana, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter].
The music workshop witnessed the participation of several musicians having knowledge of musical instruments from intermediate to advanced levels, from all over the world. The curriculum for the workshop included lectures, one-one private lessons, coaching student bands, listening sessions, interactive sessions, jam sessions, band performances, recitals, and a lot more. The Concert is a celebration of the Unlock your potential international music workshop by the faculty members, along with select musicians from the workshop, marking the Madras Day.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr GRK Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, MARG Group said, "The first-ever music workshop in India, under the guidance of Prasanna, was an initiative of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, to bring together international performers under one roof with the ultimate objective of enhancing the performing skills of musicians. The 'Unlock your potential' music workshop offered a unique opportunity to musicians to share their music styles, interact and perform with fellow musicians globally. The workshop and the concert is our first initiative to bring together international performers and students in India, and to give back our gratitude to our society, which has offered us so much. We are very happy to be partnering with Prasanna to promote music education through SAM."
Faculty and participants for the workshop, stayed in beautiful half – acre garden villas at MARG Tapovan, with facilities including private swimming pools, a business centre, Wi-Fi facilities, Snooker, Table tennis, gym, etc. The students were provided practice rooms, ensemble rooms, amplifiers, drum kits and all other infrastructure. This workshop offered a unique experience for musicians from around the world to live, learn and make music with some of the best professional musicians in the world in a beautiful and unspoilt nature.
This was the first of a series of initiatives that SAM organised in India to create a platform to bridge the long-felt need for top quality contemporary music education in India. SAM will be commencing its first term in July 2010.
THE FACULTY:
Prasanna – Program director/ Guitar faculty
Prasanna plays guitar like nobody on the planet – Allaboutjazz.com
Prasanna is one of the most outstanding guitarists and composers of his generation. He is the world's best known performer of traditional Indian Classical Carnatic music on the guitar and goes even further by extending his signature style to Jazz, Blues and Rock. Prasanna has performed with such luminaries as Victor Wooten, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Joe Lovano, A.R.Rahman, Airto Moreira, Larry Coryell, Anthony Jackson, Aka Moon, Omar Hakim, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Illayaraja, Dave Douglas, Vijay Iyer, Aka Moon, Trilok Gurtu, Steve Smith etc. Prasanna has released 14 albums as leader including 11 Carnatic albums, 'Electric Ganesha Land', 'Be the Change', 'Peaceful' and 2 DVDs 'Live in Sedona' and the guitar instructional DVD 'Ragamorphism'. Prasanna's film scores include the 2009 Oscar Award winning documentary 'Smile Pinki'. As an educator, Prasanna has taught such top class musicians as guitarists David Fuiczynski, Gustavo Assis Brasil and Rubens De La Ce, trombonist Garo Saraydarian, drummer Mauricio Zottarelli, Violinist K. Ishibashi and Pianist Marc Rossi. Prasanna was guitar faculty at the prestigious Banff Jazz Summer workshop in 2008. He has given lectures, clinics and residencies at MIT, Berklee College of Music, Banff Center for the Arts, Harvard University, Arizona State University etc. Prasanna is an alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology and Berklee College of Music.
http://www.guitarprasanna.com
http://myspace.com/guitaristprasanna
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prasanna/7536103955
Mike Pope - Bass faculty
"Can play like I have never heard anyone play" – Victor Wooten>
"His virtuosity on electric and acoustic bass is rare even by today's standards" – John Pattitucci
With such respect and admiration from some of the greatest bass players in the world, Mike Pope is a real renaissance man. He is known the world over for his bass playing stint with the legendary Chick Corea and the Elektric Band. Mike has performed with such artists as Al Di Meola, Victor Wooten, David Sanborn, Manhattan Transfer, Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, Blood Sweat and Tears, Bill Bruford, Joe Locke, Randy Brecker, Steve Smith, Prasanna and several others. Mike has released two highly acclaimed albums as a leader, 'Walk your dogma' and 'Lay of the Land' featuring an array of star guests. In addition to his formidable talent as a bassist, Pope has been designing the electronics for Fodera basses for the last decade. He engineers and builds the proprietary preamp circuit that is used in virtually every Fodera bass. Mike now has his own company MichaelPopeDesign which makes high quality bass pre-amps.
http://www.mikepopejazz.com
http://www.myspace.com/mikepopejazz
http://www.michaelpopedesign.com
Rodney Holmes – drum faculty
Rodney Holmes is a 'rare blend of lightning limbs and artistic vision' as one critic put it. An 8-time Grammy Award winning drummer best known for his work with Rock legend Carlos Santana on several tours and the multi-platinum selling album 'Supernatural', Rodney's prodigious drumming talent has also graced the music of some of the greatest stars in Pop, Jazz and Fusion world including Rob Thomas of Matchbox twenty, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, Joe Zawinul, Lee Ritenour, Larry Coryell, Don Byron, Victor Bailey, Alphonso Johnson etc. Rodney has also toured with other diverse artists like jam band favorites Steve Kimock and Jim Weider, the David Gilmore quartet and Indian guitarist Prasanna among others. Rodney is featured on the Brecker Brothers' 1994 Grammy Award winning album 'Out of the loop'. Rodney also pushes his innovative drumming into the realm of electronica, trip-hop, drum n' bass and ambient music, the results of which are on display on his first solo CD 'Twelve months of October'. Rodney is also a highly most sought after drum teacher touring around the world offering clinics, master classes and drum workshops.
http://www.rodneyholmes.com
http://www.myspace.com/rodneyholmes
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rodney-Holmes/44709556908
David Gilmore – guitar faculty
David Gilmore is one of the trail blazing guitarists of his generation. His explosive guitar playing has driven bands as diverse as Wayne Shorter band, Steve Coleman's Five Elements, Trilok Gurtu's Crazy Saints and Rudresh Mahanthappa's Samdhi. David has recorded 2 albums as a leader 'Ritualism' and 'Unified Presence' and has played on over 50 albums as a session guitarist. David has performed with such acclaimed artists as Cassandra Wilson, Christian Mcbride, Melissa Etheridge, Ravi Coltrane, Boz Scaggs, Marcus Miller, Joan Osbourne, Aka Moon, Isaac Hayes, Will Calhoun, Vijay Iyer and Prasanna among others. He is known worldwide for his work with Grammy winning R&B singing sensation Joss Stone. He has toured with Joss all over the world and performed with her at the 2005 Grammy Awards show and on her live DVD 'Mind, Body and Soul Sessions'. David is featured on the 1997 Grammy Award winning Wayne Shorter album 'High Life'. A passionate educator, David Gilmore was guitar faculty at the prestigious Banff Jazz Summer workshop in 2009. David Gilmore is currently an Associate Professor at the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.
http://www.davidgilmore.net
http://www.myspace.com/davidgilmoregroup
More information on Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music is available at SAM web site http://www.sam.org.in |
