Prasanna

Traveling the Globe With All Terrain Guitar

- Vinnie Demasi

WERE SOMEONE TO PLAY YOU THE FIRST FEW seconds of each track on Prasanna’s All Terrain Guitar [Susila], you might reasonably draw the conclusion you were listening to a compilation CD from a label that specialized in broad-ranging modern jazz and world music: “Springtime in New York” playfully dances around Pat Metheny-inflected post-bop lyricism, “Lava” surges like a free-flowing Indian raga run through a cranked Marshall stack, and “The Keyword Is Love” juxtaposes melodic scat-singing against a gently pulsing reggae structure. Certainly, the album’s nine tracks are a delightful carousel ride through nine varied and eclectic musical landscapes.

A more in-depth listen, however, makes it readily apparent that the connecting thread organically weaving this circumnavigation of world music together is the signature guitar style of Prasanna. With a passport stamped by Carnatic Indian classical music, Frank Zappa, Rush, Wes Montgomery, Bach, Bob Marley, bebop, and all stops in between, the guitarist is well-equipped to adroitly navigate any musical environment. “I gave this record its name, because I felt that all I had to do was stay humble toward the music and let the guitar travel where it needed to go,” he explains. “I wanted it to be an empathic journey that the listener can connect with from any vantage point.”

And although Prasanna is passionate about incorporating the traditions of Indian classical music into the harmonic structures of the West, the India-born Berklee grad, who is also an award-winning film composer, is able to see past genre and try to capture the big picture.