{"id":362,"date":"2008-11-19T23:21:57","date_gmt":"2008-11-19T15:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vickneswaran.com\/?p=362"},"modified":"2008-11-19T23:21:57","modified_gmt":"2008-11-19T15:21:57","slug":"an-evening-with-samuel-j-dass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vickneswaran.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/an-evening-with-samuel-j-dass\/","title":{"rendered":"An evening with Samuel J Dass"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a> cousin bro but i do admire his music a lot ( although i rarely listen to traditional music).<\/p>\n

During my\u00a0college 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\u00a0+classical ( they call it fusion, i think)\u00a0musicians 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> told me that, hey do you know ruby’s<\/a> 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..\u00a0Sorry dato ruby<\/a>, didnt mean to put you down yea..lolz<\/p>\n

Well, back to the story….. hmm before I\u00a0move on,\u00a0can we like check out his play with his group, PRANA!!<\/p>\n

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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<\/a> and it goes like this:<\/p>\n

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 \u2018Sageeth Bushan\u2019 which is equivalent to a senior diploma in music.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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<\/p>\n

Recently silencing all critics, Samuel won seven gold world championships<\/span><\/strong> at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Samuel was also the only Malaysian to perform in the finals.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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:<\/p>\n