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Sri Jimi - Cover Story,
Rave Magazine |
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While air guitarists run out of notes to play and
others simple gazed in awe at his playing, there
were others who thought he drinks some vile tasting
potion from a hermetically sealed container that
fills him with his prodigious talent..... |
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Stringmaster - Bharadwaj
Rangan, Indian Express |
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Concept albums -
especially fusion concept albums - are a publicity
person's nightmare. After all these decades of sitars
backed by drum sets, guitars playing alongside ghatams,
just how do you convey a sense of the music anymore
without resorting to East-meeting-West cliches?
That's why it helps when something like Electric
Ganesha Land comes along, for the copy practically
writes itself..... |
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Bill Milkowski's
feature on John Maclaughlin, Frank Gambale and Prasanna
in his 'Fusion' column, Jazziz magazine |
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Its a phrase that could certainly be applied to
new releases by guitarists John McLaughlin and Frank
Gambale - both of whom still take a great deal of
pride in blowing minds with their fearsome fretboard
facility - and by Prasanna, a recent graduate of
the Berklee College of Music by way of Chennai,
India..... |
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Prasanna's Electric
Ganesha Land Ensemble - Chicago Reader |
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Yes. its a Hendrix homage-
he takes Carnatic music into the realm of distortion
pedals and hammer-ons, sounding less like Kabra
and more like Vernon Reid. Sometimes the power chords
and lightning runs can get to be a bit much, but
he still plays plenty of beautiful melodic, zigzagging
improvisations in that clean, clarion tone..... |
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An Electric Indian
Journey - Rakesh Mehar, The Hindu |
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Prasanna takes the listener through an exotic journey
through a mystical middle-land, which captures the
practised precision of Carnatic music and yokes
it together with the capricious imagination of the
music of the '60s. Listen to Snakebanger's Ball
for instance..... |
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Rod Sibley at Abstractlogix.com |
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Beautifully phat and thickly distorted power chords
fill your speakers. And then Prasanna starts wailing
way for five minutes. Its like an alap (an unaccompanied
solo/into to a raga) on steroids and cranked to
10. When the piece was over, I took out my lighter,
lit it, raised it above my head, and started whistling
and yelling mooore!!!..... |
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C.S. Vallikanth's
extended analysis at Allaboutjazz.com |
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Shape shifting ad infinitum into soundscapes shimmering
with the dazzling hues of myriad ragas, and some
thrilling excursions into mainstream jazz, this
must be the musical equivalent of literary magical
realism—kind of like Salman Rushdie with a
Gibson Les Paul. Electric Ganesha Land, a blazing
tribute to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, is the third
definitive addition to a nascent, but already remarkable,
beyond-jazz anthology..... |
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Glenn Astarita
at Ejazznews.com |
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Prasanna slams
the proverbial pedal to the metal during many
of these pieces that often conjure up visualizations
of early 70s psych rock. But the overriding
twist pertains to the guitarist's zinging
crunch chords and sinewy East Indian lines
intertwined with raga motifs..... |
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Strings
can sing - Sivasakthi, Economic Times |
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You don't have to catch a glimpse of
his face to know its him. Even if he
played the guitar from behind the curtains
or on an anonymous CD, his first few
notes would give away his identity.
His work bears so strong an imprint
of his own personality. Prasanna has
acheived what most musicians can only
dream of..... |
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John
Kelman at Allaboutjazz.com |
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While he'll likely not turn the
world on its edge the way Hendrix
did, there iss certainly nobody
else who sounds quite like him.The
album opens with 'Eruption in
Bangalore', a six-minute shred-fest
with Prasanna on his own, just
one guitar ratcheted up to eleven.
Comparable to Hendrix's take on
'The Star Spangled Banner' in
its simple form but virtuosic
interpretation..... |
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Ganesha
goes electric - Shridevi
Keshavan, DNA newspaper |
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The CD is called Electric
Ganesha Land and the cover
has Lord Ganesha clutching
a guitar. But guess what?
The album is a trbute to
guitar god Jimi Hendrix.
It offers an explosion of
energies, a rapturous conversation
between rock and Carnatic
music, without the two genres
actually converging...... |
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Swinging
Strings - Sudhish
Kamath, The Hindu |
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Being a guitarist,
Prasanna has mastered
his flair of pulling
the right strings
and hitting the right
chord with his devoted
audience of guitar
lovers..... |
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David Adler in Jazz Times
Magazine |
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Prasanna, a Berklee alumnus of South Indian origin, displays formidable guitar chops and compositional ambitions on Be the Change, focusing on difficult, polished jazz-rock fusion with pronounced Indian characteristics. Playing acoustic and electric guitars, Prasanna enlists the rhythm section services of Victor Wooten and Alphonso Johnson on bass and Derico Watson and Ralph Humphrey on drums. |
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Fred Bouchard in Downbeat
magazine |
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Prasanna plays solid
guitar and sings fevered lines with the decisive
control and authority that marks the best Karnatic
art. Bassists Victor Wooten and Alphonso Johnson,
and drummers Rakph Humphrey and Derico Watson play
in this rarified idiom with majestic chops and quicksilver
reflexes: Picture dancers moving in astonishingly
elaborate choreographic unison like a flock of shore-birds.
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Phil Di Pietro
at Allaboutjazz.com |
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In the context
of music, which so often accelerates past
the progress of humans in the remainder of
their endeavor, Prasanna has already transcended
being a catalyst or orchestrator of change-he's
become it - wherever he pops up, there it
shall be. A godsend from India to us, he has,
through his formidable gifts, combined with
impassioned desire and commitment, arrived
seemingly instantly full-blown, yet developing.....
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Bill Milkowski
in Jazziz Magazine |
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Surrounded by an all-star casting including bassists
Victor Wooten and Alphonso Johnson, drummer Ralph
Humphrey and Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin,
Prasanna melds aggressive electric lines, slamming
backbeats, melodic motifs and complex polyrhythms
in a kinetic groove-oriented stew that recalls Jai
Uttal's Pagan Love Orchestra with hints of Discipline-era
King Crimson..... |
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"BP recommends"- Chris Jisi in Bass Player magazine |
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Indian guitarist Prasanna stirs a pot of intoxicating, heady world fusion with the help of Alphonso Johnson and Victor Wooten. The pair are all over the winding odd-time ostinatos that ground tracks like "Pangaea Blues" and "Satyam", while both add Indian-inspired phrasing to their solos on "Grapevine" and "Ragabop", respectively. |
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Todd Jenkins at Allaboutjazz.com |
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When the fusion of guitar
jazz and traditional Indian music is discussed,
either John McLaughlin or the late Shawn Lane will
immediately come to mind. One can add to those ranks
the marvelous talents of Prasanna, who has the added
legitimacy of being a native Indian..... |
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Glenn Astarita at jazzreview.com |
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In sum, it’s not
often that we listen to musicians/bands that present
dazzling chops in concert with a structured and
divergent production all equating to a high fun-factor.
Prasanna has made his mark, now it’s up to
the willing listener to seek out and listen to this
superb effort. (Zealously recommended…) |
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John Kelman at
jazzreview.com |
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Building layers of electric and acoustic guitars,
with a solid understanding of a multitude of styles
he creates world music with a distinctive sound.
Much like Pat Metheny, who merges the folk music
of his Midwestern-US upbringing with a stronger
jazz sensibility, Prasanna does similar things with
his native South Indian roots. Also, like Metheny,
Prasanna is less interested in songs where the theme
is simply a way to get into improvisation; his pieces
have a stronger sense of composition, each one telling
a story. |
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Dijul at Progressia.net,
France |
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Son apport unique et original, c’est le phrasé
carnatique que le guitariste, influencé par
ses origines (Inde du Sud), emploie abondamment
sur ses compositions. Précisons d’emblée
que même pour les réfractaires à
cette musique proche de la transe et parfois très
répétitive, la musique de Prasanna
reste accessible..... |
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Luca Corte Rappis
at Allaboutjazz.com, Italy |
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Prasanna, compositore
e musicista che fonde nella sua musica jazz, classica,
world music, ha una formazione fortemente accademica,
e un passato di oltre dieci album di Carnatic Music
- musica indiana dalle radici lontanissime-: non
e' casuale la sua notevole capacita' di gestire
l'ensamble negli sviluppi dei temi e si coglie in
ogni traccia quel suo background culturale che rielabora
un vastissimo database di suoni, sfumature, colori,
sensazioni.
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Ragazzi magazine,
Germany |
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"Be the
change" ist kein reines Jazzrock-Werk, eher
die Musik (und nicht Fleisch) gewordene Intonation
des Wortes Fusion. Ein modernes Werk, liebevoll
und genüsslich intoniert, entspannt und doch
durch und durch kraftvoll und forsch. Der Klang
der Aufnahmen ist exzellent, was vor allem HDCD-Player
Besitzer freuen wird.
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| Peaceful |
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John Patterson in Allaboutjazz.com |
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After listening to Prasanna's Peaceful CD, I must say it is well named as it was ultimately relaxing in its widely meandering stroll through a myriad of styles. Prasanna injects soul and passion with grace into each composition. This raga rock, raga jazz, and even introspective raga acoustic guitar that delivers. |
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Phil Di Pietro in Allaboutjazz.com |
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Formulating an introduction for a musician of such complex origins and remarkable technique as Prasanna is challenging, but considering my target audience, may be succinctly summarized as follows. Whereas the known practitioners of the hybridizations of classical Indian music and jazz have previously journeyed East from West, Prasanna has journeyed West from East. |
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| Ragamorphism |
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Teed Rockwell, India Currents magazine |
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Some Western reviewers have said that Prasanna “started” his career by playing Karnatik music, and then went on to study Jazz and Rock at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The reality, like everything else that happens in India, was more complicated. True, his first major recognition came from his innovative electric guitar performances of Karnatik classics in concerts and on numerous albums. |
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| Aka Moon “Guitars” |
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Phil Di Pietro in Allaboutjazz.com |
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Let's be real. How many people in the world outside of their native Belgium know who Aka Moon is? The ratio could be staggering. One in just how many? How many of you reading this right now think their name means “also known as moon?” Wrong. The name, and aspects of their music, stems from their passion for the AKA Pygmies, with whom they lived in the great forest of Central Africa in 1991. |
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| Live Concerts |
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Tejas Ewing in the "The Hindu", Chennai, India |
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IN THIS concert, I want to paint a picture for the audience," explained guitar maestro Prasanna, before his recent show at the Alliance Francaise. In a rare treat, and a major musical event for Chennai, Prasanna gave just his second solo concert in all his years as a performer. In the intimate setting of the A.F. auditorium, over 200 people packed themselves in for a standing room only event. |
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Matt Wright in the "Utah Statesman", Logan, UT, USA |
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He's been described as a true world-music visionary and a godsend from India. But no matter what anyone may say, one thing is true: The man is good. Monday evening, I walked slowly out of the Eccles Conference Center feeling a little befuddled, despite the general consensus between myself and I that I was definitely looking sharp. The problem was that now the concert was over, I still had one lingering question: How do you review a concert that stylistically was amazing, but, like a pagan attending mass for the first time, was less than thrilling? |
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