Welcome to the world of Tim Turvey

31/12/08 - sun media
Elizabeth Yates

Flavours of India

Performance at Arts Block fuses jazz with traditional Indian music

The city is getting its first taste of traditional Indian music – with a twist – thanks to local musician Tim Turvey.

The eclectic jazz performer is presenting Neeraj Prem and his band, Ragaffaire, on Saturday at the Brantford Arts Block in what Turvey hopes is the first of a world jazz fusion concert series.
It’s a lucky break for Brantford, given that Prem commonly performs for large crowds in major centres. Saturday’s audience will be more intimate.

Turvey encourages people to open their ears to Ragaffaire, noting that Brantford usually responds warmly to new experiences.
The concert “will be completely different, we’ll take Indian Folk music and Jazz and mix it all up. I’m really excited for people to hear it.”
On Saturday, Turvey will man the drums along side electric bassist Jonny Kerr, providing an infusion of western sound. The Eastern lead comes from Prem on sitar – an Indian instrument with 19 strings – and Ajit Rao on Guitar with Tabla an Indian drum.
Known as a virtuoso, Prems’ mastery of the sitar comes naturally. A native of New Delhi who came to Hamilton in 2002, he represents his family’s fourth generation of traditional musicians.
“I’ve played all my life, I can’t even remember when I started.”
A complex instrument with a rich tone, the sitar is versatile enough to mimic the human voice, says Prem.The Tabla meanwhile accents the melody with complicated rhythms and timing.
Ragaffaire – a name in homage raga. A classical Indian genre – brings together musicians of various backgrounds to fuse their sounds. ”Everybody has their own colours and techniques. That’s a great thing: it keeps our music fresh.

He formed the group a few months after arriving in Canada to seek fresh musical inspirations. His reputation allowed Prem to land gigs in prestigious venues such as, The Royal Ontario Musician and Toronto’s Glen Gould Studio. The 40 year old continues to play around the Hamilton - Toronto area while touring regularly: just back from Chicago, he’s planning a west coast tour for March, hitting cities including Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Seattle.
Soon after landing in Hamilton, Prem opened Raga Music School which now has a branch in Toronto. He also broadcasts music lessons on television and radio.
His success has been fuelled by “a huge market” for Indian music – driven mostly by non-Indians.
“There is a thirst and a hunger for new cultures to get involved with,” Prem says of North Americans.
“They keep looking for new avenues to enrich their own culture.
Turvey met Prem after watching the Indian musician perform and later joined Ragaffaire.
Now 34, the Brantford native’s interest in world music stems from a longtime interest in fighting racism. He believes fusing cultures together through music is a proactive way to bridge the racial gap.
A multi-instrumentalist who plays, drums, guitar, bass, saxophone, clarinet and two Indian instruments – the harmonium and tabla – Turvey has been performing since age 15 in ensembles and as a solo artist. He usually spends summers touring across Canada, gigging with different musicians in each city.

The Arts Block fills a local niche for an intimate performance space, offering a different atmosphere than local clubs, says Turvey. He hopes to host more music there including a Toronto based group he belongs to which plays abstract jazz. “I’ve been wanting to bring that here, but where? It’s not bar music. I’ve been waiting forever for a venue like the Arts Block to come up.”