Neel Murgai, sitar, voice, daf
- Sameer Gupta, tabla -
Mat Maneri, Viola -
Greg Heffernan, cello
Influences
Krishna Bhatt, Ravindra Goswami, Edgar Grana, Nikhil Bannerjee, John Coltrane, Ravi Shankar, Bella Bartok, Phillip Glass, John Mclaughlin, Fela Kuti and many others
WATCH NEEL ON LETTERMAN WITH WYCLEF AND CYNDI LAUPER
25 days in the Grand Canyon and temporal perception takes on new meanings. This piece unites that experience with an interplanetary sense of time and space. The music,in 5 voices, is based on planetary sidereal frequencies. Starting with the sun that remains as the drone, each new tone is that of planets in succession from Mercury to Neptune. A journey to the end of the solar system. The pictures (taken by Adam Kuby) are from a 2007 Grand Canyon expedition, a 25 day journey to Diamond creek. The colors of the pictures have been altered to reflect the planetary frequencies in a mathematical relationship. The text comes out of a survey of the participants. Conceived, composed and created by Neel Murgai.
Sounds Like
As a teaching artist, Neel has presented his unique workshops at the esteemed Carnegie Hall as well as in corporate events, public and private schools, hospitals, colleges, and yoga centers.
He has collaborated with the world famous Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company on their recent dance/theater pieces, “Blind Date” and “Another Evening”, and accompanied the ensemble live as it crisscrossed the globe from Australia, Singapore and Taipei to Paris, Amsterdam, Milan and more.
He has performed at the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Celebrate Brooklyn, Skirball Center, NJ Performing Arts Center, Blue Note, Knitting Factory, Art Wallah Festival (LA), Arts and Ideas Festival (New Haven), Artsplosure Festival (Raleigh), Masala! Mehndi! Masti! Festival (Toronto), and many other venues.
Neel’s other collaborations have included Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Cosmo Vinyl, Yungchen Lamo, Akim Funk Buddha, Daniel Carter, Loren Mazzacane Conners, Suphala, Chris Rael, Pharoah’s Daughter, Mission on Mars, Tom Chess, Bhavani Lee, Morgon Kara, Dusara Dance Company, Jalal Zolfonun, Manhattan Children’s Theater
He has composed music for the BBC programs, “Holidays on a Plate”, “Holidays in the Danger-zone”, the TBS productions “Women of the Ink” and “Spotlights” as well as the documentaries “Crossing Lines” and “Festival of Sacrifice”. He created the score for the instructional video “Baby Tata” and contributed to the Art Cetera children’s music compilation. He also scored the Hindi book on tape, “Pinjjer”.
Neel has received awards and fellowships from Mari’s Foundation and the Rec-Music Foundation. He holds a BCE from Georgia Tech, and is in matriculation in the MFA-Interdisciplinary Arts program at Goddard College.
Neel Murgai is a multi-instrumental performer, teacher and composer. He has studied sitar for over twelve years, currently with the maestro, Pundit Krishna Bhatt, who is himself disciple to the legendary Pundit Ravi Shankar. Neel has been tutored in Harmonic singing from Battuvshin of the Buriyat performance group Uragsha, as well as from Timothy Hill of the Harmonic Choir. With Jalal and Soheil Zolfonun, he has studied the Persian daf (frame drum), and performed concerts of classical Persian music around the U.S. Neel also enjoys playing guitar, keyboard and many other percussion instruments. In addition to performing and teaching traditional music, this wealth of diverse musical knowledge has lead Neel to create a unique cross-cultural style, which he contributes to many dance and theater ensembles, bands and film/TV projects.
Neel’s musical tutelage began at a young age with the trombone, but his facility with math and science actually lead him to study Civil Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. At this time he began to teach himself guitar and discovered his true passion for music. Fate brought Neel to work at his college radio station WREK, a pioneering place dedicated to music not heard elsewhere on the radio dial. Soon Neel was hosting his own show, Continental Drift, featuring music from around the world. This has lead him on the path that he has taken for the rest of his life. It fostered a commitment to diversity, experimentation and an abiding interest in many exquisite sounds from remote corners of the globe. Soon after graduating he was on a plane back to India, his parents’ homeland, to begin the lifelong journey in sitar and a singular devotion to music. Further travels and collaborations with different musicians have driven him towards frame drums and harmonic singing. Neel’s ability to touch people with his music has taken him to stages around the world with all his instruments in tow. But his radio experience committed him to one more thing, sharing this knowledge and wealth of sounds with as many people as possible. He means to demystify the exotic, and make these ‘foreign’ sounds common place and accessible to all. He loves to work with musicians and non-musicians alike, fostering globally inspired jam sessions. Neel does all this and more through his teaching, workshops, performances and compositions. Currently Neel is uniting his interest in math and science with his music at Goddard College’s MFA program in Inter-Disciplinary Arts.
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Kaise hain sansar mein Neel bhai? Dekhta hu, jeh jo superstar televison show.Wah, that rockz.Kursiaan toh hamein liye bahut kam zaroorat hain lol.Lagta hain ki they can't do a thing without ridiculing our ways. Bhai, waise hi, its good you are enjoying yourself.
Hey Neel! thanks for finding us and for your kind word, means a lot! Likewise! I'm diggin' "Rageshri" right now! I've seen you at the Food Co-op now and again, but it's so insane in there! Next time, I'll be sure to track you down. Also hope to hear you play live soon as well, take care, Ravish
WATCH NEEL ON LETTERMAN WITH WYCLEF AND CYNDI LAUPER
25 days in the Grand Canyon and temporal perception takes on new meanings. This piece unites that experience with an interplanetary sense of time and space. The music,in 5 voices, is based on planetary sidereal frequencies. Starting with the sun that remains as the drone, each new tone is that of planets in succession from Mercury to Neptune. A journey to the end of the solar system. The pictures (taken by Adam Kuby) are from a 2007 Grand Canyon expedition, a 25 day journey to Diamond creek. The colors of the pictures have been altered to reflect the planetary frequencies in a mathematical relationship. The text comes out of a survey of the participants. Conceived, composed and created by Neel Murgai.
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