"Spiritdance" is another major effort of Edward's to produce a vibrantly dynamic and entertaining CD spanning close to his full vocabulary and range of instruments. Special features on this album include many well highlighted moments where genious percussionist Sandeep Kumar is shining brightly. Other guests, unique intercultural composition, and improvisation make this CD surely Edward's finest to date.
"Ragmakam" - solo performance on fretless guitar"....While
in Istanbul, on a study grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, as
well as experiencing deep immersion into Turkish culture and music, Edward
was invited by Turkey's foremost oud maker (Faruk Turunz) to build from
scratch a new model of his triple-neck fretless guitar (which is an approximate
combination of an oud, a sarod, and an acoustic guitar). Ed has just finished
composing 8 pieces of music for this instrument which will soon be released
under the name: "Ragmakam"
"Edward Powell Trio" has also been busy since returning from Turkey... Edward and Ulf Gjerdingen (Swedish bassist) just returned from Amsterdam where they gave a headline performance (with Alper Kecek:percussion) at the RAYWAN Festival. In July Edward will be off to North America and looking forward to performances with Niel Golden (tabla), and Scott White (contrabass).
"Workshops": ...since returning from Istanbul Edward has been increasingly requested to give workshops. Edward has now aquired a knowledge and experience in the field of ragas and makams to put him in an advantaged position to teach these subjects, particularly to Western students thanks to his Canadian musical roots, wide experience, and openmindedness. Edward offers a unique insight into the similarities which subtly tie together all the modal melodic systems of the World, particularly ragas, makams, and even microtonal nuances found in jazz and blues.
© 2007 EDWARDPOWELL.com