The Sixth Annual Toronto Indo-Jazz Festival 2014

TORONTO - Oct. 31, 2014 - PRLog -- SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH – Indian Classical Raga Evening

The Monsoon Trio will open the evening with a recital of Indian Classical Raga Music on saxophones and bass veena accompanied by Toronto’s own Ravi Naimpally on tabla. Learning the illustrious art form of Indian classical music and applying it to their native western instruments, brothers Jonathan and Andrew Kay and bassist Justin Gray, are collectively forging a unique path of cross-cultural musical synthesis. Having spent the greater part of the last five years living in Kolkata, India, the Kay brothers have been performing this traditional music on tenor, alto and soprano saxophones. Justin Gray performs on the bass veena; a hybrid east-west electric bass he co-designed with Canadian luthier Les Godfrey. Having toured all across India, the Monsoon Trio has made waves in the Indian classical music community for their sincere and dedicated efforts to assimilate the language of the ragas, and master the traditional expression through their western instruments. The brothers will be returning to India this December to tour, marking this year's Indian Classical Raga Evening the last chance to experience this trio's powerful vibrations.

The feature recital of the evening will be performed by NYC's bansuri virtuoso Steve Gorn, also accompanied by Ravi Naimpally on the tabla. Featured on the 2011 Grammy-winning recording, Miho – Journey to the Mountain, with Dhruba Ghosh and the Paul Winter Consort, as well as in the Academy Award-winning documentary film, Born into Brothels, Gorn has performed Indian classical music and new American music on the bansuri bamboo flute throughout the world. His gurus are the late bansuri master Sri Gour Goswami, of Kolkata, and Pt. Raghunath Seth of Mumbai, who he often accompanies in concert. He has numerous recordings and often performed in India, appearing at Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, Habitat Center and Triveni Hall in New Delhi, The Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, and more. His performance with Pandit Ravi Shankar’s disciple, Barun Kumar Pal, at Kolkata’s Rama Krishna Mission, was televised throughout India. In 2013, he was awarded the Pandit Jasraj Rotary Club of Hyderabad Award for Cross Cultural Achievement.