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Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Eclectic guitar: Prasanna’s music knows no borders.

“What has happened in my life has happened naturally,” he says over the telephone, on the eve of his trip to Kozhikode where he presented a paper and a recital.

And it was this natural progression that saw a guitar crazy youngster play by ear the sapta swaras he heard his sister play on the veena.

“My neighbour in Ranipet used to play the guitar in church and it was his practice sessions that drew me to the guitar. When my sister, Deepa, began learning Carnatic music, I began to play that music on the guitar," recalls Prasanna.

Impressed by his skill, his mother, Susila, persuaded the veena teacher Tiruvarur Balasubramaniam to teach him to play Carnatic music on the guitar. And it is this rather unusual training that moulded Prasanna the musician that the world knows today.

It is his firm foundation in Carnatic music and his training in music from the Berklee School of Music that gave an edge to this naval architect from IIT.

“Excellence for excellence sake," he reiterates during the conversation that touched on Indian music, the current scenario and his foray into albums that seamlessly merged different streams of music.

“Rigour is essential to learn Carnatic music. One has to practise for hours, memorise compositions and so on. I did not have a lineage and compared to many Carnatic musicians, I was a late starter. So it was rigour that helped me," says Prasanna. He adds that it is the same rigour that saw him gain an admission to IIT and then secure admission for a Honours Bachelor’s degree in Classical Composition and Jazz composition at Berklee.

“Rigour comes naturally to me. But it is the ability to assimilate and be open to all kinds of music that has helped me hang out with musicians from all over the world,” says the musician who had made albums with world famous musicians such as Victor Wooten of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. The artistes he has jammed with is a veritable who’s who of the contemporary music scene – Alphonso Johnson of the band Weather Report, virtuoso saxophonist Joe Lovano, Belgian jazz band Aka Moon and so on.

What was it to play with those famous names?

“The joy of making music and the humility I see in all those musicians. It has been an enriching experience. These are musicians who expect a certain high standard and the fact that I don’t let the Indian music aspects intimidate them certainly helps,” he says.

But he adds that he would not want his albums to be given labels. “I do not care for labels but if my listener wants to categorise my music under fusion or any other label, I do not have a problem.” But Prasanna feels that Carnatic musicians have to open their minds and ears and listen to what is happening to music in other parts of the world.

His passion and concern can be heard loud and clear when he asks, “Do youngsters get a chance to hear what is happening in music in other parts of the world? For example, there is more to western classical music than Bach and Mozart. For instance, in Boston, where I live, I get the opportunity to listen to new compositions premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, one of the best in the world. Last week, they premiered a composition by 98-year-old Elliot Carter. Our youngsters should be able to hear such new works.”

He feels that popular film music, which can do so much to promote music and musicians is not doing enough to motivate instrumentalists. “In the seventies and eighties, composers such as Ilayaraja made his musicians play at a high level but now, sadly, people who play live instruments are sidelined in favour of programmed drum loops and synthesizers and as a result, the quality of players suffers. I have not seen this apathy for live players anywhere else in the world.”

Prasanna feels that standards in music have dipped in India outside of classical music. He also feels that Carnatic music has a great appeal to a broader spectrum of listeners and should move out from its geographical limits.

“I feel honoured that in my own way I have been able to contribute to this widening of listeners. Youngsters who listen to my tribute to Jimi Hendrix also come to listen to my Carnatic music concerts. I find out that the tastes of today’s youngsters are eclectic and they are willing to experiment to find out what appeals to them.

“I am doing my best in bringing more world class musicians to play in India and make good music more accessible here,” signs off Prasanna, confident that his music can erase barriers of language, region and culture.

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