Let ’ s start at the beginning . When did you realize you could push the limits of vocal rhythm ?
The beginning for me is our source rhythm , the heartbeat . When I approach any music I connect to the pulse as life-force energy . This rhythmic-tuning meditation leads me outside my mind and beyond myself into an awakened sensory space .
Since the energy in that space is beyond limitations , wherever I am in that special awareness , there will always be a new dimension to explore . As early as I can remember , I was galvanized while playing with the shapes of the rhythms and rhythms of the melodies of whatever music I was hearing .
The vocal rhythm experience has been an ever-evolving sonic vehicle … I think I was born to play with time .
Can you tell our readers exactly what you do with your voice when performing rhythmic vocal percussion ? How does it work ? How are you doing that ?
The rhythmic power of the voice is healing to the world and for me these expressions are rhythmic love stories . It is my hope that
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There are two types of rhythm singing I use as my modes of expression ; one is scat singing from the jazz tradition and the other is South Indian konnakol .
In scat singing I look to improvise motivic expressions using traditional jazz scat syllables , combined with language shapes and captivating rhythmic cells that reveal themselves to me spiritually . In konnakol the drum language is handed down through tradition and I endeavor to synchronize deeply with the time cycle and rhythmic structures .
Each syllable is special to me , so I pay a great deal of attention to the sound and immense beauty of the articulations . Even when I deliver these expressions at a top speed , it is important that the spirit power of each and every syllable shape comes through clearly .
Regardless of how simple or complex the rhythmic syncopations may be for the voice to execute , the slow steady time feel creates a sense of grounding and space .
Sometimes when I improvise , I internalize the time cycle like a mantra , for example , in a 7 beat cycle ( 3 + 4 ) ta ki ta ta ka di mi . When I sing traditional Konnakol then I will indicate the time cycle with tala ( clapping patterns ).
Your website says you have been influenced by “ vocal traditions such as niggun , taksim , jazz scat , konnakol and hoomei ”. Would you mind telling us how you found these traditions ? What drew you to them ? What did you take from them ?
The moment I heard scat-singing and Konnakol I knew I had found my magic carpet . I ’ ll never forget when my jazz mentor , trumpeter Dave Burns , scat sang a be-bop riff for me to jam out on the piano . There was something about those rhythmic wordless vocal expressions that ignited a flame in me .
From that moment on I ’ ve been on high alert to discover the wondrous world of wordless singing traditions . There are too many to mention here , but to give just a few references .
I was led into Jewish niggun tradition after hearing recordings of cantor Yossel Rosenblatt . Then onto Konnakol while studying at Berklee College of Music , when I purchased a cassette featuring classical Indian percussionists .
In 2003 I was lucky enough to study with a legendary figure in Konnakol , the late Subash Chandran . I was introduced to Hoomei ( Central Asian overtone singing ) listening to Glen Velez recordings while studying Music Therapy at NYU … and then years later I was blessed to learn from the master himself .
How did you find your way from your musical beginning to working with composers like Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard ?