Pray For Brain

About Pray For Brain

Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 15:18 Wednesday, 04 January 2012 15:00

What happens when two Buddhists and a Muslim meet to make music?

Arabilly.

Country and Eastern.

Indofunk. Jazz.

World.

Jam. 

Music to help you Pray For Brain.

This is not your auntie's world music band, nor your uncle's country twang, nor your grandad's jazz vinyl:  think 70s era Miles Davis, Chet Atkins and late Coltrane playing with the White Stripes and Isaac Hayes on a Calcutta rooftop with a bird's eye view to Morocco.

Johnny Cash and Bengali icon Rabrindranath Tagore may sit in, too.

As Sama Duo, Mustafa Stefan Dill (guitars, oud) and Jefferson Voorhees (drums) brought a telepathic level of interplay to their groove-oriented energetic improvisations, delivered with a gutsy south Asian and Middle Eastern twist.

One fan wrote, "I love Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Indian classical music and Zeppelin and improv jazz, and your music was hitting all of those buttons in my brain at once."

With the addition of upright bassist Christine Nelson and retooled as Pray For Brain, the new trio expands the range of groove, nuance and improvising conversations. The music is simultaneously lighter but deeper, easier to hear and harder to shake off.

Pray For Brain binds their diverse musical influences into a unified, coherent soundscape: skillful writing frames artful, telepathic dialogues that draw on a deep core of both cutting-edge and ancient improvising methods from India, Africa and the Middle East. The trio offers their voice with an energetic finesse wrapped in a rhythmically-driven, wide-ranging rock/funk/country/jazz ethos.

Pray For Brain is planning a CD release for 2012 before touring the northwest with United Roots in May.

The Story Behind Pray For Brain

Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 14:59 Saturday, 19 November 2011 19:01

We've added a bass player to the Duo, with the remarkable find of upright bass player Christine Nelson.

As the Duo material has evolved to include material that's more arranged, accessible -- even song-like -- it seemed like a natural path to explore.

We had a lot of misgivings -- how would a third member fit with this very telepathic and somewhat idiosyncratic way we work with music that we've developed over time?

but good Lord, did we find the right person - and an upright player to boot, which fits perfectly. She brings great heart, great ears and musical instinct, she's picking it up quick, and fits amazingly well into what we do.

We're thinking our past eight years has just been the run-up and prep work for this moment. It's that good.


Musically, it's building on the flavor of the newer Gretsch material and adding a soul/funk/afro pop undercurrent to it (she's done her time with reggae and roots bands).

How is it changing how we play? For my role, it's liberating on all fronts, and a very interesting process. I can both play less and play more simultaneously , if that makes sense.

While these arent polished takes, here's some rehearsal clips:

http://soundcloud.com/norumba/soulfunkjamtrio

http://soundcloud.com/norumba/lktrioversion

http://soundcloud.com/norumba/hauntingtrioversion

And of course, with a new format, comes a new name: Pray For Brain.

Think on that idea for a bit. Not only is it a very appropiate zeitgeist for this day and age, the relationship between prayer and thought is well documented:

NPR: Prayer May Reshape Your Brain ... And Your Reality

Salon.com : Divining The Brain

A by-product has been a resurgence of interest from various quarters in what we do, not only via our own contacts as news of this spread, but also from her own network. Already a new spate of gigs is being ironed out -- will be posting dates shortly.