An evening with Samuel J Dass

Hi all, this posting is not gonna be more like an announcement alone but also can be considered as appreciation to our local musician the great Samuel J Dass. Well, I’m not promoting about this guy because he is my fren Ruby’s cousin bro but i do admire his music a lot ( although i rarely listen to traditional music).

During my college days i heard about him that he is very good and very talented in sitar and so on. So i had my own thought that, hmm okies, he must be some kind of those real classical musician or what till one day i heard some music was going on TV and quickly came out from my bedroom to hear what is that ( who is the musician), gosh its Samuel J Dass… Swear, i thought it was some western +classical ( they call it fusion, i think) musicians or some Indian Origin musicians. Well, Mr Sam, if you are reading this, pardon me as i would call myself an “isai suuniyem” who knows nutz about music, so please dont bother about what this silly boy talking.

Then one day, we were talking about this local music scene is getting better and improving and yada yada yada and suddenly someone asked why is there’s no one doing some fusion music and make it big here. Well achu told me that, hey do you know ruby’s cousin is the sitar musician? I asked who sitar, what sitar, i don’t know men..He said dont tell me i dont know Samuel J Dass…Owh, i know, he is ruby’s cousin a? I asked then why ruby is not in the music industry, lolz.. Sorry dato ruby, didnt mean to put you down yea..lolz

Well, back to the story….. hmm before I move on, can we like check out his play with his group, PRANA!!

So I’m sure you guys MUST have been mesmerised with his music I bet!! Here I would like to share some info about Samuel which i got it from here and it goes like this:

Sam started playing Sitar at the tender age of 7. His first guru was his father, Mr. Jabamalai Dass, who drilled into him the basics of sitar playing. He then joined The Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia, where he learnt the finer nuances of this traditional art-form from Mr. Maheswaran Orme. At the same time he also sought the guidance of Giani Bachitar Singh, who inculcated in him the characteristics of the various Hindustani Raagas. He underwent training under the tutelage of Mr. Raj Kumar Sharma and Professor Haridev of Chandighar University under whom he was able to obtain the ‘Sageeth Bushan’ which is equivalent to a senior diploma in music.

In 2002 Sam had the good fortune to study the finer intricacies of the sitar under the world renowned sitar maestro Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan in Pune ,India. He was under Shahidji’s guidance for 7 months and his talent was acknowledged by the maestro himself. He then formed the successful group Prana, which toured South East Asia extensively for 2 years and recorded a studio album

Recently silencing all critics, Samuel won seven gold world championships at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Samuel was also the only Malaysian to perform in the finals.

Leaving PRANA on hold temporarily Samuel has moved back to his roots and has recently opened his new school the Samuel Dass School of Hindustani Music in K.L, Malaysia.

While others were busy creating samba rock and hip hop albums and trying to sell them screaming their throat dead dried at thaipusam, Samuel on the other hand, had won himself numerous awards as below:

• Cameronian Arts Awards 2004 – for the best original composition and best solo performance
• World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA 2006 . He won 7 gold medals and one silver medal for the eight categories he took part in. He also won 7 Champion of the World plaques.

Well, to me and to the rest of the musicians in malaysia, im sure this is a No-Joke kinda achievement, thumbs up and well done, brother  Samuel. But if wanna compare to those commercial artist like the yesterday rised hip hop stars and rock musicians, definitely, the crowd for Sam kinda music is lesser. Why? well there are many factors, one of it, people have the impression set (like the earlier me) sitar must be some real accoustic stuff and sounds like lullaby and only suits grandpa and grandma. But the matter of fact is, its more ear soothing and gives peace of mind and yet much entertaining. Trust me, i was tapping my toes without me realising that i was very much enjoying the clip that i had embedded with this posting. Try listen to it, you will love it.

The next factor is more to western influence like the hip hop cultures with baggy pants, graffiti, b-boy (break dance), rapping and beatboxing. Youngsters nowdays thinks that oh yea, thats the In-thing rite now, so we shall follow it for the sake of trend without even knowing the real meaning of the culture. If you ever happen to see any guys dress up in so called Hip Hop dresscode in Thaipusam or temple festival, ask him to rap about something ( because thats rap, you just rap what you see spontaneously) and i bet 95% of those kind will just turn their head around and vanish on the spot. Guys, even the whites are doing Yoga which originated from India, how many Indians are practising it? Why don’t we take the bright side if you were about to compare to the Whites and Blacks. For a change, no harm trying. Even the Americans had changed, else Barrack Obama would’nt be the president today! To all those what ever music culture that you are sticking to, im not condemning you, im just seeking support for good musicians locally.

Well, im not a brand ambassador for any kind of music here. I listen to almost all kinda genre which doesn’t hurt my ears and feelings. So, to all the local artist, i support you!! But allow me to intro to some who don’t really know what is Prana or who is Samuel J Dass and what is sitar fusion music, well its time to know. Trust me, it is.

Promo time, hehe. I received an invitation for ” An evening with Samuel J Dass” from a facebook group managed by Mathavan Achutha. You can click here to get yourself there or you can go to my facebook and view my events or if you are really too lazy, check out below:

Some might think that, oh this vicknes fella ah, sure getting some commission for sharing or advertising this ad on his blog la, that’s why all of sudden acting so good. Guys, please for once let me do something for the cause of indians and local musicians without getting a bad name? I personally don’t know the organiser or bro Samuel. I was asked for a favour and i am doing it. So, I hope this post does its cause, I hope atleast someone will attend after reading this post to make it worth and to support the Only Malaysian who won 7 gold medal at the international music arena. Thanks for your support, from vickneswaran.com