Indian lap steel guitarist: Prakash Sontakke

Dennis Smith · Post by **Dennis Smith** » 16 Mar 2013 10:46 am

Hi, very interesting conversation about music and the new insturment he has invented and some very nice playing at the end. They roll some credits at about 9min and the song is after that on a Asher steel.
Dennis

http://youtu.be/CfK0AJ0WJ-U

Mitch Druckman · Post by **Mitch Druckman** » 16 Mar 2013 1:27 pm

Thanks for posting this. A beautiful lap steel guitar sound.

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 16 Mar 2013 4:47 pm

Fantastic - thanks.

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 16 Mar 2013 8:04 pm

Incredible touch! That's by far the best tone I've ever heard from an Asher...gorgeous.

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 17 Mar 2013 7:22 am

Good find........it's encouraging to see how the Indian musicians are evolving with both their music and their instruments......

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 17 Mar 2013 2:45 pm

There have been lap steel players in their cinema industry since the 1950's. About 20 years ago, the acoustic players Debashish Bhattacharya and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt began showing up here, with the latter getting a a Grammy for "A Meeting by the River", a 1994 collaboration with Ry Cooder. This guy sounds sort of dated, really - with the exception of the electric element. There have been a number of Westerners through V.M. Bhatt's and Debashish's schools in India, and a number of Indians through Berklee, Julliard, and (musical) M.I.T. It's almost like a ticking time bomb, before some kid with the time & talent manages to put a PSG in the context of the world's oldest musical tradition.

So far, the best "fusions" I've heard have come from the Indian side, with the exception of McLaughlin's two Shaktis - there are very few Westerners who can immerse themselves deeply enough. I'm pretty sure that "the next big thing" in music is already happening somewhere, and it isn't happening here.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 17 Mar 2013 5:08 pm

This guy is amazing. I love it.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 18 Mar 2013 10:22 am

The song he references at the end was of course made famous (here) by Jeff Beck as "Nadia", his instrumental interpretation of a a song written by British/Indian composer Nitin Sawhney.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqT7ufzFF7w

But Prakash mentions it's an older classical melody, and there's a version of it on U. Shrinivas's "Samjanitha" album called "Riversong." Beck's orignal interpretation on "You Had it Coming" was all slide guitar, though he's played different versions of with more fingers/whammy bar. Prakash is from a South Indian family of musicians (as is Srinivas), so his "sourcing" may run deep. There's more here:
http://prakashsontakke.com/music/

Gerard Ventura · Post by **Gerard Ventura** » 18 Mar 2013 7:38 pm

It looks like his fingerpicks are on 'backwards' than the usual way. Is that rare?

Dennis Smith · Post by **Dennis Smith** » 18 Mar 2013 8:28 pm

Gerard, they look right to me.

He is also in the group Moon Arra. here's a song by them. The film edit is off a little but the song has a 60's feel and I like it.
Dennis

http://youtu.be/vBC7kpW3_AA

Gerard Ventura · Post by **Gerard Ventura** » 19 Mar 2013 5:27 am

Check the view (in the original video) at 7:46, and 7:51. I tried the picks this way, it actually works well if you have a very gentle touch and not trying to roll things. .. if my eyes aren't fooling me lol!

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 1 Dec 2018 9:28 am

Really inspiring intervals.

One thing for music to make the body move but when it moves the soul, that's happening on a different plane.

It's said the higher planes communicate in Sanskrit.

This sounds like music from those planes.

Asher lap steel

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 1 Dec 2018 12:55 pm

India has loved lap steel since the Moe family and others traveled there decades ago!

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 1 Dec 2018 1:31 pm

David M Brown wrote:India has loved lap steel since the Moe family and others traveled there decades ago!

And they have a very long history of such instruments even before the Hawaiian craze that helped inspire the Mohan/hansa veena designs. The vichitra veena, played typically with a glass, hardwood, or otherwise hard "egg" or ball, is quite ancient:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyiVycRu544

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 1 Dec 2018 2:39 pm

Love Indian players and this music is no exception. Cool to hear him explore modern sounds. Interesting to hear where Beck picked up the intro to "Nadia". I'd always assumed he composed that tune.

Robert B Murphy · Post by **Robert B Murphy** » 21 Mar 2022 8:43 am

What a great player and I love his thoughts about music in general, especially the link between singing and playing. It sure sounds to me like he is playing Fair and Tender Maidens which, considering he played his interpretation of Take Five at the NAMM show, makes perfect sense.

Tony Oresteen · Post by **Tony Oresteen** » 25 Mar 2022 3:35 pm

Here he is at NAMM 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbVa45sLrAo

My first instrument was sitar when I was 14 living in Pakistan. The tabla player is very good.

Mike Babyak · Post by **Mike Babyak** » 28 May 2022 6:04 pm

A wonderful player, for sure. Indian ornamentation is incredibly beautiful (and very difficult in that it has to be precise and there are rules for what kind and when you can use it in a given raag). As David pointed out slide has been around for quite some time in India. It’s perfectly suited to Indian music with all the gliding and microtones.

Debashish actually has a track with electric lap on a record that hopefully will be out some time after the new year. An on old Rick! Here he is with a little bit of raag Desh on an Asher.

https://youtu.be/wMdOUDQEA68

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 28 May 2022 7:39 pm

David M Brown wrote:India has loved lap steel since the Moe family and others traveled there decades ago!