Soul’d debuts their high-energy sound with self-titled debut single “Soul’d. The new
single “Soul’d” debuts on three "most added" radio lists, introducing
a new Funk/Smooth Jazz trio of the same name. Soul’d, the band, features
GRAMMY®-nominated composer and producer Arun Shenoy, internationally-acclaimed
flautist Ravichandra Kulur, and groove master Duke Purisima. Their new style of
high-energy music has been dubbed “Bansuri Funk.”
.
What do
you call a song that crosses Funk with Smooth Jazz, while also turning
traditional instrumentation on its ear? That was the challenge facing producer
and composer Arun Shenoy, internationally-acclaimed flautist Ravichandra Kulur
and groove master Duke Purisima, who formed their trio, Soul’d, in early 2014.
Their vision? To merge their diverse influences into a fresh and high-energy
contemporary instrumental sound. As the mixes of “Soul’d” (Narked Records, 2014)
evolved, the single so clearly captured their combined vision for the trio that
Purisima suggested an eponymous debut.
Purisima
laughed softly as he explained “We were working on several tracks, but this one
really stood out as a perfect example of where we want to go with our music.
‘Soul’d’ captures what we are all about, so I suggested we take the name for
our new band, too. You’ve got to feel pretty strongly about a piece to let it
stand for you and your band.”
Kulur,
an in-demand flautist who performed extensively with the late Pandit Ravi
Shankar and daughter Anoushka Shankar, coaxes a whole new sound out of his
Indian classical flute, which takes the place of the saxophone or trumpet leads
normally heard in Smooth Jazz. Another favourite of Shenoy’s, GRAMMY®-
nominated arranger Don Hart, teamed up with the trio, recording the live horn
orchestration for “Soul’d” in Nashville. Listening to final mixes inspired the
stylistic term Bansuri Funk, referring to the trio’s innovative jazz/funk
approach and the traditional Indian bamboo flute, the Bansuri.
Shenoy
comments “This new take on things was something I envisioned after working with
Ravi on ‘Bliss’. I was instantly taken by the clarity of his playing style, and
high-paced fingering techniques, for which he is quite well known by
music-lovers and critics alike. I wondered how it would sound to explore all of
that in a more East-meets-West jazz funk fusion, and so we went for it.”
Their
efforts have been well received. In an early review, Stephen Smoliar of
Examiner.com writes “There is a strong element of funk in their tune; but what
raises this modest recording above the ordinary is the thoroughly impressive
flute work from Kulur, whose intonation goes boldly beyond the confines of the
traditional Western equal-tempered chromatic scale.”
The
names Shenoy, Purisima and Kulur may ring a bell among World Fusion fans, as
the three artists collaborated on Shenoy’s “Bliss”, an Indian World Fusion
single that was launched by the Recording Academy via a worldwide “Exclusive
First Look” feature at GRAMMY.com in 2013. While Purisima has worked with
Shenoy before on the latter’s projects, Kulur and Shenoy met more recently when
discovering online that they both hailed from the same district along India’s
Western coast.
Art
director Roshni Mohapatra lends her unique creative vision for the project’s
packaging and visual aspect of the music, which has been brought to life by
Rich Lock at Devolution Designs in the UK.
Radio
promotion is being handled by Gorov Music Marketing; the week of August 25th,
“Soul’d” debuted on the "Most Added" Lists of Billboard Smooth Jazz
Chart as tracked by Nielsen BDS, SmoothJazz.com and also the Groove Jazz Music
Chart.
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