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Brochevarevarura to the blues
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The East does meet the West in fusion guitarist Prasanna
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Prasanna: `I grew up listening to Ilaiyaraja's music, which is very sophisticated harmonically.' — Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
"PLAYING SOLO really brings out your personality," says the world-renowned fusion guitarist Prasanna, as he sits atop a makeshift, red-carpeted stage. Then he begins to play and the audience is swept away on a sound wave of passion, inspiration and spontaneous creativity. Some personality, that!
Off stage, Prasanna is no less impressive. He has an easy, unassuming air, an endearing trait for a musician so accomplished, that his most recent CD (Be The Change) entered into 16 Grammy categories. "It's my dream album as of now," he says of the Jazz/Carnatic fusion album, which he produced himself, in which he plays alongside some Grammy Award-winning artistes.
Prasanna's passion for music began at a very young age in an ordinary way, listening to film music. "I grew up listening to Ilaiyaraja's music, which is very sophisticated harmonically," he says. When his sister began to play the veena, Prasanna, who had already begun teaching himself the guitar, started to reproduce the Carnatic music on his own instrument. His mother recognised his talent and, from then on, there was no stopping him. A proficient Carnatic musician, Prasanna played at rock concerts in his youth and was later introduced to the blues and jazz.
With an engineering degree from IIT-Madras, Prasanna's first job was with a software company. But he finally decided that he needed further education in western music. "The Berklee College of Music (in Boston) was the best," he says, and that's where he went.
Since then, Prasanna has had his finger in practically every musical pie imaginable. From Carnatic music albums to original soundtracks for Hindi movies (Lagaan), from playing at jazz festivals to writing original scores for dance theatre, the sky is the limit for this multi-faceted musician. "I enjoy what I do," he shrugs. "Just be yourself, learn as much as you can from the people around you, reflect your life experiences — and your music takes on its own life."
Prasanna is very delighted at the fact Indian audiences are receptive to his music. "And many musicians who come to study with me are young, between the ages of 18 and 25." Ask is his audiences here are more partial to certain types of music than others, he says: "If you play what you enjoy, if excellence is your prime motivator, your music will catch on. People are open and smart — it's up to you, as a musician, to create the bond."
How about Bangalore specifically? "A lot of people who are into my music in India seem to be from Bangalore — at least, they're the ones buying my CDs. This is a great place for music, it's really opening up."
It's not easy to gain a proper foothold amongst the worldwide music community.
Be The Change has certainly accelerated the process and Prasanna has since been made a member of the Recording Academy. These may be tiny steps, but Prasanna is clearly headed in the right direction.
RHEA SARAN
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