Pawan Benjamin, Sameer Gupta & Nick Moran

×

Expand

New Yorker Pawan Benjamin (saxophones, bansuri flute, keys) collaborates with Sameer Gupta (tabla and drum set) and Nick Moran (bass) for an exploration of Indian ragas, Nepali folk and modern electronica, at this InDIGenous Jazz concert.

press release: InDIGenous Jazz Fall Series

PRESENTING NEW ORIGINAL MUSIC BY LOCAL JAZZ ARTISTS

7:30 PM, FREE Admission, UW Memorial Union, PLAY CIRCLE

The first concert of this season, on September 20, will feature Madison native and multi-instrumentalist Pawan Benjamin (saxophones, bansuri flute, keys). A current resident of New York, Pawan will present a trio featuring multi-instrumentalist Sameer Gupta on both tabla and drum set, as well as Madison bassist Nick Moran. The trio will weave their way through Nepali folk rhythms and mountain melodies and Indiana classical ragas, as well as modern electronic sounds, all in the spirit of improvisation and the pursuit of the unifying spirit of music.

As both an accomplished saxophonist and bansuri flute player, Pawan Benjamin stands at the intersection of profound musical traditions. Rooted in jazz and improvisation, his pursuit of learning later led him to the bansuri flute and a deep study of Nepali folk and Indiana classical music. His unique perspective into these legacies of music has allowed him to work with a myriad of world-class artists, and perform and teach around the world. Pawan has performed alongside artists such as Roscoe Mitchell, Reggie Workman, Bill T. Jones, Ranjit Barot, Taufiq Qureshi, Rez Abbasi, Marc Cary, and others. Pawan has studied with Roscoe Mitchell, Richard Davis, Hanah Jon Taylor, and Bob Mintzer, among others, as has also studied bansuri from the legend Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia at his Vrindaban Gurukul in Mumbai, India. Benjamin has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Newport Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Rubin Museum of Art, the Blue Note, Lincoln Center, the Mondriaan Jazz Festival, the Bimhuis, the NCPA in Mumbai, Goa International Jazz Festival, and many more venues across the globe.

PRESENTED BY:  MADISON MUSIC COLLECTIVE with GREATER MADISON JAZZ CONSORTIUM and WISCONSIN UNION THEATER

 This project is supported by Dane County Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. And is also supported by: The Madison Arts Commission, and the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation with additional support from:  WORT Radio, Janus Galleries, and Bear Sound