MONSOON - Monsoon is a band that has taken the improvisation elements of Jazz, and mixed it with the beauty and emotion of Indian Classical Music. The musicians in this band have been growing together as musicans and people and I am very lucky to have the opportunity to create this music with them. SAWUUN - Sawuun plays Indian Classical Material with a mostly western instrumentation. Ravi Naimpally has always been a huge inspiration to myself and the other members and has been the greatest help in our journey to learn the art of Indian Classical Music. This is a life long project and journey.
SANS FRONTIER - An original Improv/Funk Trio. We are inspired by so much in this band. The Live Evil Miles Era, The Headhunters, Scofield, Shakti...but mostly each other. We have been having great feedback and playing alot of wonderful gigs, and each one is a new experience. Everything from Original Funk to Improvised Free Music (with some groove of course)
Influences
My Family, John Pattiticci, Rich Brown, Paul Jackson Jr, Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Dave Holland, Jaco, Christian McBride, Victor Wooten, Miles, Coltrane, Ravi Naimpally, Wayne Shorter, Brian Blade, John Mclaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Haripursad Chaurasia, Andrew and Jon Kay.
Sounds Like
I sound like myself. Thats not to say that there aren't a few musicians that I have been directly inspired by... The Wayne Shorter Quartet, Shakti, Paul Jackson Jr, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Jaco...but really I would say that most sounds inspire me, from the nastiest of bass tones to the most beautiful bird singing right outside your window.
I am an Upright and Electric Bass Player from Toronto, Canada. I play a lot of Modern Jazz, Straight Head Jazz, Funk (both improvisational and R&B), World Music, Hip-Hop, Rock, Professional Musicals, and Solo Material across the city. My most recent passion and focus has been studying the art of Indian Classical music. This past summer I traveled to Calcutta, India, where I studied Indian Classical vocals with renowned performer and teacher Shantanu Bhattacharyya. Since then I have been also been studying the eastern philosophy and way of life, which has had such a postive effect on my music. My main project, Monsoon, has been the band where I have been able to blend the two styles together and express the emotion of Indian Classical Music as well as the intensity of Jazz.
I am glad to know that music will be my life long passion and I am very fortunate to be where I am and very fortunate to have so many people who have helped me to get here. I know that music of all kinds will be my vehicle to express myslef in life, however I believe very strongly that I need to find a way to use it to reach out and help others so that they may have the same opportunities. In order to achieve this goal I have co-founded Bhakti Music, a group that dedicates itself to finding ways of combining making a difference with beautiful music. Our first endeavour is a fundraiser here in Toronto, The Toronto International Indo-Jazz Fest. The best of the best will be there and we will be creating a scholarship for underpriveledged music students in India, so that they to can grasp their dreams. That is a little about me and where I am coming from, I hope that we can all find our passions together, because otherwise..is it really worth anything?
New album: Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Geoff Countryman (tenor sax), Johannes Wallmann (piano), Sean Conly (bass), and Jeff Hirshfield (drums). Available Oct. 30 from iTunes, CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, and KeepItCute.com.
Justin! It was good to see you the other night...a familiar and friendly face in the crowd was the perfect thing to calm me down...the bach is bitchin'!
YO, I don't like the smell of those bass fingers, how low and dirty have you been playing dude. Stank. I can't wait to jam and ahng bro, it will be a great release of tension. See you soon. Andrew
Heya! Elisha and I are in Kingston this weekend, so no go.. hope the party's a blast, will def call when we get back in. We'll all go cause some Toronto-styles trouble. Talk to you soon! ;)
Thanks bro; I don't know if I'll make it Saturday as there are a bunch of things happening that night, including a friend's birthday party and Chris' space party. But I know you will be laying down some serious funk.
It was a good year, wasn't it?? I certainly appreciated some fine music that you played as well. I often felt like I was a student of my fellow student-bassists at Humber as much or more then I was a student of Mike D or the other faculty members. Anyway let's hope we'll be diggin' some even finer music that we'll both be making in the year to come...
