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INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW (cesky)
FORUM on building the Ragmakamtar
FORUM on Acoustic Fretless Guitars/ists
HOW TO BUILD AN OUD (by E. Powell) publish by GuitarSession.com
I grew up in a musical environment in Vancouver, my mother is a classical musician, my father a jazz musician and poet. Although I began musical studies very early on the cello it wasn't until I began playing guitar that my passion for music emerged. After many years as an electric lead guitarist, health problems and disillusion with Western culture and materialism led me to India in search of a new music and way of life. Consequently I spent there many years studying sitar and North Indian classical music with acclaimed masters. Over the years my interest in Oriental music widened to include a deep love and appreciation for the oud and Middle-Eastern, Turkish, and North African music...
In 1988, after a lengthy musical "pilgrimage" to India in which he discovered Indian classical music and the sitar, Edward (encouraged by his father decided to change the direction of his musical development. He began to study the sitar with Batuk Nath Mishra of Varanasi, and continued this period of intense study under Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee (a brilliant sitarist of India's younger generation) from between 1991 - 1994, in which time he received intimate personal and musical guidance from Budhaditya and his father Bimalendu .
Edward began giving public recitals with the sitar in 1992 and has since performed regularly in North America, Europe, and in India. He has performed with many talented musicians; Celso Machado, Ali Kouskhani, Matteo Scaioli, Fabio Lazzarin, Niel Golden, Adel Awad, Sarabjit Matharu, Neelamjit Dhillon, Andre Thibeau, Scott White, Ivo Sedla--ek, Stefan Cihelka, Federico Laterza, Roger Baird, Deepak Prabhu, Stefan Montangero, Toma-- Reindl, Patrick Feldner, Friedemann Zintel, Emil Heyrovský, Vlastislav Matou--ek, Vladimir Merta, and many others.
Edward performs North Indian classical music and ethno-fusion in a very wide variety of venues. He also plays the oud, and the steel-string fretless guitar. Edward began to study the oud in 1994, and in 1995 journeyed to Morocco in search of instruments and training, where he studied briefly with Nouaman Lahlou. He returned to Canada after four months with 2 magnificent ouds custom built by the renowned luthier Khalid Belhaiba of Casablanca.
In 1997, while in India, he created a fretless guitar by putting a sheet-metal fingerboard (inspired by the Indian instrument, the sarod) onto a steel-string acoustic guitar.
Since 1998 Edward has been travelling between Canada and Europe, playing "Indian classical music", and collaborating with numerous gifted musicians - forming several new groups, namely; "Kailash", "FriedSitar", "Oriental Journey", and "Kumura". Years 2000, 2001, and 2002 saw Ed immersing himself in continued practice, composition, recording, and learning the fine art of instrument building.
In 2003/4, as well as enjoying an inspiring and educational 3 months on Crete as a guest of Ross Daly and his fascinating Labyrinth Music center, Edward completed his most ambitious CD project to date; "Bluesand".
To deepen his experience and knowledge of Turkish music Edward returned to Ross Daly's Musical Labyrinth in 2006 and later that year, after being awarded a study grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, to Istanbul for in-depth and intimate guidance under oud master Necati Çelik. Also while in Istanbul Edward accepted an invitation from the world renowned oud builder Faruk Türünz to construct a triple-neck fretless guitar which is a combination of an Indian sarod, an oud, and an acoustic guitar.
