Results for "synthesizer"

Anoushka Shankar

For Anoushka Shankar, there is legacy and then there is destiny. She is equally respectful of both, but bound to neither. Her ever-growing audience cannot help but acknowledge the familial roots of the young woman coaxing spellbinding spiritual sounds from her sitar, but neither can they deny that she is an innovator in her own right. Her name may have brought her to the stage for the first time as a young girl, but it is her talent and vision that have kept her there. Schooled in the Indian classical music tradition by the greatest teacher any student could hope to have, maestro and father Ravi Shankar, Anoushka had already dazzled thousands with her accomplished musicianship by the time she had reached her teens. "The younger Shankar revealed herself to be a remarkably promising sitarist," said Time Out New York magazine of the 16-year-old Anoushka in 1997, while a few years later Dubai's Gulf News Panorama noted, "She has accomplished far more than many musicians would do in a lifetime." Anoushka made her recording debut at 13, appearing on the album In Celebration, a tribute to the works of Ravi Shankar. Two years later she made her debut as a conductor on her father's Chants Of India album produced by close family friend, George Harrison. Anoushka, her 1998 solo debut, established the younger Shankar as something of a prodigy. That same year, the British Parliament awarded Anoushka with a House of Commons Shield, making her both the youngest and the first female recipient of that high honor. Anourag (2000), Anoushka's sophomore release, expanded upon and refined what she had offered on the debut, and 2001's Live at Carnegie Hall truly brought Anoushka into the international spotlight, garnering her first Grammy nomination and making her the youngest person ever nominated in the World Music category. Although she did not release any new recordings under her own name for the next four years, Anoushka was by no means idle. In 2002, at the historic Concert for George, a tribute to the late George Harrison in London, she conducted a new composition of her father's, "Arpan," which featured a guitar solo by Eric Clapton. Anoushka also performed Harrison's "The Inner Light" that evening. That same year saw the release of Anoushka's book Bapi: The Love of my Life, an intimate biographical portrait of her father's exceptional journey, as well as a BBC-produced telecast documentary Anoushka Shankar: Sitar Trek, a 30-minute glimpse of life on the road with the emerging queen of the sitar. In 2004, Anoushka earned a best supporting actress nomination from India's National Film Awards for her debut role in Dance Like a Man, a film by the Delhi-based director Pamela Rooks. Also in 2004, leaving no doubt that Anoushka's impact was being felt around the world, she was chosen as one of 20 Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of Time magazine. 2005 brought a return to the recording studio and the release of her fourth and most ambitious album, Rise (Angel Records). Previously, Anoushka had recorded and performed primarily as a soloist, interpreting the music of her father. Rise marked a breakthrough for Anoushka who composed, produced and arranged the album. For the first time she performed with a handpicked ensemble comprised of several other brilliant musicians, elevating her music to a new level. "I felt like I was rising into that," she says. "Rise signified growth. It was a step up for me. Not even up, just more into my own." When Rise arrived, it marked a radical departure for Anoushka. Although she still loves performing in the Indian classical realm and continues to work closely with her father, Rise was all about Anoushka finding her own musical voice. On the album she fused East and West using both acoustic and electric instrumentation to take her music someplace altogether new. It received glowing reviews throughout the world and gave Anoushka another Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary World Music category. Anoushka also became the first Indian to play at the Grammy Awards when she performed a piece from the CD at the pre-telecast ceremony in February 2006. Anoushka toured extensively in the wake of the release of Rise, working with a band and expanding on the concepts she had brought to the album. "Rise was very freeing," Anoushka says. "I feel like there are so many things I'm starting to do now creatively. Seeing people connect to the middle ground that my music now exists in, it's really inspiring me. I'm thinking in alternate ways. I've been working on a lot of music since then, pushing further, trying to see how far I can go." Those who witnessed Anoushka's own rise throughout the years could not have been too surprised to see how far she had come in so short a time. Born June 9, 1981 in London, Anoushka recalls that it was actually her mother, Sukanya Shankar, who encouraged her to train on the complicated Indian stringed instrument that Anoushka's father had made world-famous. She first sat down with a sitar, custom-made to accommodate a child's hands, when she was only eight. Further is the only direction Anoushka Shankar knows. "I'm pushing the envelope on a personal level and trying to see how far I can go," she says. "On the one hand it means so much to me explore the Indian Classical music my father taught me, and on the other hand I am so deeply excited to be discovering my own creative voice, and I hope to be able to explore and express it to my full potential. I really hope to create that balance, because that is who I am. And at the end of the day," she concludes, "you've got to be making music because you love it, and because it's honest."

Blip Fool

Blip Fool utilizes analog and digital synthesizers, guitars and effects to create jazz-influenced progressive electronic music. Our tunes find themselves influenced by jazz and progressive music. The jazz influence rears itself mostly in the arrangements and solos and the occasionally enhanced harmonic structure throughout the tune. We've always liked the head-solo-head-solo-head sort of arrangement (thank you, Berklee!) The progressive influence appears in many of the lead lines and the melodies in the heads. The music we make usually starts with a melody or a hook...if you listen to the tune Rough you'll hear it as soon as it kicks in

Sa34 Rrtty

Hhvjklvbui;b huihohohu9ohy9

Paul Hardcastle

Born: December 10, 1957

Twice Grammy nominated and Ivor Novello winner Paul Hardcastle, first emerged in late 1981 when he appeared on ‘Don’t Depend On Me’, a single by British soul hopefuls Direct Drive which was more noted for its b-side ‘Time Machine’. With vocalist Derek Green, Paul appeared on another Direct Drive single in March 82, ‘Time’s Running Out’ /’ I’m The One’. The domestic soul cognoscenti gave this pair of releases a knowing nod, but Hardcastle and Green already knew enough to branch away and form their own group, First Light. First Light first came to attention under the auspices of Charlie Gillett’s Oval label, pairing Paul’s songwriting and playing and the vocals of fellow Londoner Green

Hoben

Michael William Gilbert

Born: August 17, 1954

Michael William Gilbert's musical journey has transcended boundaries from an early age. Growing up between Connecticut and Brussels, his ears were opened to the avant-garde experimentalism of Varese, Stockhausen, and Pierre Henry, as well as the rich tapestries of Indian, African, and Japanese traditions. But it was his immersion in Miles Davis' pioneering electric period that truly sparked his passion for melding jazz and electronic frontiers.

After studying electrical engineering at MIT and electronic music at the Boston School of Electronic Music, Gilbert's talents as a synthesizer composer, designer, and teacher took root. He served as technical director of electronic music studios at Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and UMass/Amherst. Over his career he has experience teaching electronic music at UMass Amherst, Holyoke Community College, and Hampshire College. In parallel, he had a nearly 30-year career as the Adviser for Technology Initiatives and Services at UMass Amherst before retiring to focus full-time on music.

Velocity

Active since: 2014

Velocity is a quartet based out of Tacoma, Washington that siphons off of a variety of musical styles including jazz, funk and fusion. The music combines hard-hitting grooves and hook melodies with open improvisation. The energetic original compositions are largely written by keyboardist Peter Adams, and arranged by Peter Adams and Brian Smith. Common time is uncommon with Velocity. Melodies are twisted and warped around each other. Solos are aggressive, yet bind the compositions to a set of defined rules and formulas. The sounds that you expect are not the sounds you get. And that’s just the way we like it. Peter Adams / Keyboard Cliff Colón / Saxophone Brian Smith / Drums Rob Hutchinson / Bass

Rasmus Kjaer

Born: July 29, 1982

Rasmus Kjær Larsen (b.1982) is a pianist, composer and performer based in Copenhagen. For more than ten years he has collaborated with some of the most intriguing acts on the underground scene in Denmark and he has released 3 albums of his own. With the acclaimed collective Under Byen (2007-2009) Rasmus toured across Europe and North America concurrently starting to write music for his own projects. In 2012 he released his debut as a bandleader: The trio jazz album ‘Broken Bow’ with drummer Kresten Osgood and bassist Jonas Westergaard. In 2016 he released his solo album ‘Orgelimprovisationer’ and in 2019 his keyboard album ‘Turist’. Alongside his own releases Rasmus has collaborated with names like Klimaforandringer, SVIN, Jeppe Højgaard, Excelsior, BISSE and Frisk Frugt and he played at the Roskilde Festival and Eurosonic Festival among others

Adam Ahuja

Born: January 4, 1983

NYC-based Adam Ahuja is an x-genre live-looping artist, keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist, and entrepreneur. He has drawn international recognition touring independently as an artist and as a past member of acts such as Robert Randolph & Family Band and the Ana Popovic Band. Ahuja’s keen sense of the contemporary music scene prompted him to establish Infinity Gritty, a global music label and consultancy. The label focuses on pushing the creative limits of artistic expression at the intersection of jazz and beyond, and has landed features in Spotify's State of Jazz playlist, Atwood Magazine, Mathematical Association of America, and others. Ahuja's influences range from from jazz, rock, world, funk, hip-hop, electronic, and some Vanilla Ice dance partying at age six, amalgamating a sound that melds a love for the groove, an affinity for harmonic exploration, and an expression of metaphysically-bent lyricism

Matthew Whitaker

Born: April 3, 2001

Born in 2001 in Hackensack, NJ, Matthew Whitaker grew up surrounded by music. His love for playing music first began at the young age of 3 after his grandfather gave him a small Yamaha keyboard.

At 9, Matthew began teaching himself how to play the Hammond B3 organ. Four years later, he became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond in its 80+ year history. He was also named a Yamaha Artist at 15, becoming the youngest musician to join the stellar group of jazz pianists.

​Matthew has toured both here in the US and abroad, performing on world-renowned stages, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall, and Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC; SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival and at international venues in France, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, UK, Australia, Switzerland, Portugal, Japan, Spain, Morocco, and South Korea.​