February
2, 2004 - He released one of those tunes that made Smooth Jazz
fans stare at their speakers - a "stop in your tracks"
kind of tune. It hard to deny that "Sigh" by Praful
was easily one of the most unique songs on Smooth Jazz radio
in the last year. For the first time in our "Artist of
the Month" feature we include two interviews - both conducted
last month. First John
Beaudin's chat
with Praful
from January 14th which was also broadcast on the Breeze 103.1
FM in Calgary, Canada and columnist Liz
Rivard interviewed
the saxophonist the following week.
Liz Rivard - Praful, you were born in Germany spending
many of your "musical years" in Amsterdam. My guess
is that you have adopted the name "Praful." Tell me
how and why you chose it, does it have a particular meaning?
Praful - Praful is a name
I received many years ago from an Indian mystic named Osho.
I used to spend time meditating in his Ashram in India. Praful
is a Sanskrit word and means: flowering, blossoming.
Liz
- You say that your "heart has been conquered by especially
(but not only) the music of India and Brazil." What is
it about those rhythms that speak so strongly to you?
Praful - It is not only
the rhythms it is the whole music, the places and the people.
It all belongs together. I just love both countries and have
been there several times. They are both peoples very much centred
in their hearts. They are both very rich and complex cultures
and so is their music, rhythmically and melodically.
Brazil has integrated African rhythms, native Indian folklore,
jazz and pop in a very different way than the U.S. has. Its
music is either extremely outgoing and powerful in a positive
way or very sensitive and melancholic as is the case with bossa
nova.
In India I found myself attracted to the Bamboo Flutes (Bansuri)
and took lessons from the pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. It is
very ingoing, meditative and tantric. I love the rich phrasing
and embellishments in Indian music. North Indian music (Raga)
is modal, in one scale. The challenge is to build your performance
so that playing 40 minutes in one scale does not become boring.
Liz - You have done a tremendous
amount of touring and in your diary I believe you were referring
to Indonesia (?) you remark that the "coexistence of extreme
wealth and poverty is shocking." Have you as a musician
been able to have any impact on such dichotomies?
Praful - It seems to me that the 'coexistence
of extreme wealth and poverty' on our planet is responsible
for a lot of the tension we are experiencing. The obvious conclusion
is that sharing and equality are not our strongest points. But
I am not trying to make an impact on anybody. Everybody is trying
that, and look at the results. I have no answers or recipes.
I am just doing what I like to do and what feels right, what
nourishes my soul. By doing so it makes me happy and makes me
live from love instead of from fear. Most of my music is instrumental,
which crosses borders more easily because it can be understood
by everybody no matter what language they speak. It speaks to
the heart much easier than music with words and meanings.
Liz - I understand that
you and your band were in Bali only days prior to the horrific
terrorist attack and in fact you were on hand for some of the
memorials. Has this proximity to violence altered your tour
schedule? As you reflect on your closeness to this catastrophe,
what are your thoughts on vulnerability?
Praful - The immediate effect
of such an experience is always the feeling how precious life
is and how close death is at any given moment. It creates an
urgency makes me want to live more fully, without holding back
or postponing. So there is a very positive effect. The day after
the attack we had long talks between the musicians whether we
should continue the tour or not. On the first show we then did
on Java some of the band members did not perform, and it was
very intimate and beautiful. Ultimately we decided to all finish
the tour under raised security measures with police and army
support. If we had stopped we would have done exactly what the
terrorists want us to do, which is to drive out 'strangers'
and create a split between their own people and foreigners or
westerners. It was a kind of a statement from us.
Liz
- You've been musician of note in Europe for sometime. Now
One Day Deep has become a mega hit here in North America and
all over the world. Let me quote from a reviewer from radio
station KKSF in San Francisco, "San Francisco has just
been hit by another earthquake, and he goes by the name of
Praful. 'Sigh' is the hottest thing to hit radio in a very
long time." That sentiment reflects just about every
review I have read. What happens in your head when you read
stuff like that?
Praful - I hope my song hasn't been as devastating
as the last SF Earth Quake! But it is a great compliment and
it is beautiful that my music reaches and touches people.
It is an affirmation for me that I am on the right track and
gives me the possibility to continue making albums and living
from it.
Liz - Tell me the names of three musicians who
have had the greatest impact on your musical career? Please
give me three names of musicians you would love to work with;
I suppose it might even be the same three.
Praful -
It's hard to name just three, there have been so many. In
my earlier years Pat
Metheny
and the music of his Group have had the biggest impact on
me. My solo playing and composing are influenced by him. Hariprasad
Chaurasia has been my Bamboo Flute teacher and source of inspiration
for the Indian music. I also look up to Miten, an English
singer/songwriter, probably not known to most of you. Apart
from being my friend I admire him for his way of expressing
his spiritual experiences in his songs and for the deep silence
he helps to create in his performances. And there are many
more, like sax players Jan Garbarek, Wayne Shorter, Branford
Marsalis and Bill Evans, Miles
Davis,
Nitin Sawhney, my friend Mola Sylla (singer from Senegal),
Kruder & Dorfmeister, Keith
Jarrett,
Salif Keita (singer from Mali)……
There
are quite a few of artists I would love to work with:
Nitin Sawhney, Michael Franti, Pat
Metheny,
Sting,
Stevie
Wonder,
Gilberto Gil, Marisa Monte, Lenine, Zeca Baleiro (all Brazilian
singers), Salif Keita, Keith
Jarrett,
……
Liz
- You just completed a five city tour of the U.S. How was
the reception? I understand you will be back touring in North
America in the near future. Can you give us a quick itinerary?
Praful - Reception was
amazing. There were many real music lovers and lots of people
who knew my music already. I will be back this summer. It
is too early to give you an itinerary yet. There are possibilities
to play from May until October. My agent is putting together
a few tours right now. I will be back with a bigger band than
last year. Please visit my website www.praful.nl
in the next couple of months to find out about dates and places.
Liz - Who is in your CD
player just now?
Praful - Underworld -
A Hundred Days Off, Celso Fonseca - Natural, Tosca - Delhi
9, Michael Franti - Everyone Deserves Music, Nitin Sawhney
- Human (I have several CD players)
Liz - With your tremendous
success with "One Day Deep" have you done it all
or is there something else you would like to achieve in your
musical career?
Praful - That's a funny
question! I feel like I'm just starting. The best music is
yet to come! Music is so vast and our planet so rich musically.
I may have been playing the sax for a while but still there
is so much to learn. I am just starting to explore and learn
producing. I can't imagine I will ever have the feeling, 'I
did it all'. At least, I hope not.
Liz - When music fans
hear the name "Praful" what do you want them to
think of?
Praful - Don't think!
Just put on the music, dance or sit back and enjoy!
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