Anjuman
Anjuman is Brandon McIntosh (sarod), Seth Littlefield (percussion) and Phil Georgas (bass). Anjuman regularly invites guest artists to perform with them. A few of the past performers are Archana Kumar (Indian kathak dancer), Johnny Conga (conga player), and Sri Neeraj Prem (sitar player).
Seth and Brandon have been making music together for over 10 years. In 1997, while working on their undergraduate degrees at Central Washington University in percussion, they began playing in bands together and dabbled in Indian music. After graduation Seth went to Cuba and Brandon moved to India to pursue music. In 2005 they reunited in Seattle and began to envision what would become Anjuman. After trying out several bass players, Phil Georgas’ deep understanding of Indian music and decades of bass playing seemed a natural fit. He joined the group in 2008.
London Tone Music is thrilled to release, as part of our 52x52 campaign, the song with the longest name in our young history as a label, Traditional Afghan Folk Song in Raag Khamaj & Afro Cuban 6/8. As the band explains it, the song was inspired by a traditional Afghanie folk melody. Anjuman interpreted it through an ancient Indian Raag called Khamaj. Raag Khamaj is considered to be one of the more sensual Ragas and was initially meant to be performed during late night. To inject a bit of excitement into the piece, the band set the rhythm to Afro - Cuban 6/8, which is called Bembe. Bembe is a style of percussion that comes from the Yoruba people of Africa, used to accompany sacred songs, brought to Cuba in the 19th century.
Individual Bios:
Brandon McIntosh is a celebrated sarodist and disciple of Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta of the Senia-Shahajahanpur Gharana. Brandon has performed throughout India, Japan, Canada, and the United States. He has performed with Grammy-nominated sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar, tabla virtuoso Yogesh Samsi and award winning kathak dancer Sujata Banerjee, as well as others. He has a masters degree in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and is a visiting student at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, India. Over the last decade he has spent many of those years of living in Kolkata studying in the traditional guru-shishya parampara approach to learning Indian classical music with his guru. He is now based in Seattle, but regularly travels to India for performances and talim.
Phil Georgas, described by a fellow musician as the primordial bass player, has been playing bass since the day he could lift one out of the case. His playing reflects a pure and unconditional love of low notes with influences that cover a wide spectrum, from rock/jazz and Latin fusion through all styles of pop and landing on straight ahead punk. Phil has shared the stage with The Ramones, Five for Fighting and most recently served a two year stint with The Brandi Carlile Band. Phil is also a blossoming sarod player who has traveled to India with Brandon to study under the guidance of Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta. In Anjuman Phil plays Latin bass patterns within the framework of North Indian Classical rhythmic cycles translating his knowledge of improvisation in raga to fretless bass.
Seth Littlefield received his B.M. in percussion performance at Central Washington University where he studied with both Dr. Andrew Spencer and Garey Williams. Seth has won numerous soloist awards at festivals internationally and performed at both IAJE and MENC conventions. Seth has also studied privately in Cuba with Chuck Silverman, Raul "Lali" Brito, and Miguel Fernandez. Other teachers in the U.S. include: Mark Ivester, Steve Smith, and Steve Houghton. Seth performs a variety of styles from jazz and hip-hop to Afro-Cuban and fusion. He also was the drummer for The Brandi Carlile Band in 2005.
Rumba meets Raga, Anjuman's debut CD, was recorded at London Bridge Studios in one day. It was mixed and mastered at Undersea Records and Produced by Kali Productions. Photography was done by KP Studios.
