“A living hope for quality music.” —A R Rahman
Guitar Prasanna is one of the most renowned musical artists to have emerged from the Indian subcontinent. He is a pioneer in performing the traditional Indian Classical Carnatic music on a modern electric guitar, and is known worldwide for that innovation. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for Carnatic music and was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Along with Pandit Ravishankar and A.R. Rahman, Prasanna is the only other Indian composer to have scored the music for an Oscar-winning film (Smile Pinki, 2009).
Prasanna is recognized internationally for his expertise in jazz, rock, and fusion music, performing and recording with Grammy-winning artists such as Esperanza Spalding, Victor Wooten, and Joe Lovano. His collaborations over the last 25 years with Indian music legend A.R. Rahman in numerous movie soundtracks have made him a household name among Bollywood music fans.
Joining Prasanna at Montalvo is special guest George Brooks, an award-winning saxophonist and composer, acclaimed for successfully bridging the worlds of jazz and Indian classical music. Brooks is the founder of several seminal Indian fusion groups and is a celebrated performer and collaborator who has worked with genre-defying artists including Etta James, Anthony Braxton, Jaki Byard, Talvin Singh, Kronos Quartet, The Temptations, Michael McClure, and Ray Manzarek.