Sangam: Sitar and Cello
Paul Livingstone, sitar
Peter Jacobson, cello
Thursday, October 26, 2017, 7 p.m.
Drinkward Recital Hall
From left to right, Peter Jacobson and Paul Livingstone. Photo courtesy of the artists.
Sangam is the chamber music duo of sitarist Paul Livingstone and cellist Peter Jacobson. Sangam performs innovative compositions and improvisations straddling the worlds of Indian classical music and European polyphony which arc between deep musical meditations to dynamic poly-rhythmic counterpoint. Their unique sound is imbibed with the free spirit of a jazz improvisation and incorporates touches of Latin and popular music styles. Livingstone and Jacobson have been recording and touring together for over 12 years performing with Arohi Ensemble, Build an Ark and Quartetto Fantastico among many other projects born of the globalized Los Angeles creative music community. They have been featured on three Grammy Award winning records, with Ozomatli, Quetzal & Rickey Kej. Sangam means “a confluence of rivers;” it is a meeting place of disparate streams flowing into one.
International performer, composer and teaching artist Paul Livingstone has focused his studies in the creative tradition of Indian classical raga music. He trained for over thirty years in India and the US, studying under Amiya Dasgupta, Rajeev Taranath and the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar. He has also studied traditions with master musicians of Persian, South Indian, African, Indonesian, Macedonian, and jazz music while developing a unique style of “ragajazz chamber music,” blending diverse world traditions and counterpoint with dynamic rhythmic materials. Livingstone performs on sitar and fretless guitars and requintos of his own design and has composed for film, television, theater, and dance. He has recorded on two Grammy-winning records and has played with a plethora of world traditional, jazz, and popular artists including Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, John Bergamo, Glen Velez, Kenny Burrell, Wadada Leo Smith, Geetha Bennett, Miroslav Tadic, the Liän Ensemble, Ozomatlli, Juan Gabriel, Ramon Guittierez (Son de Madera), Alanis Morissette, Ruben Albarran (Cafe Tacuba), Emmanuel, Poovalur Sriji, and Pedro Eustache. He leads the Arohi Ensemble. He was on the faculty of Cal Arts for five years and now teaches world music at Glendale Community College. Paul has produced seven CDs of Indian classical and creative world music, the latest being Ahimsa, the second Arohi release featuring original “ragajazz chamber music” dedicated to the legacy of non-violent revolution.
Peter Jacobson is a cellist, producer, songwriter-singer, chamber musician, teacher and music selector who has recorded, performed and toured with renowned artists. He studied with Eleonore Schoenfeld at USC as well as at CalArts and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2013, he won a Grammy for best Latin Rock Alternative or Urban Album as a member of the group Quetzal. Jacobson has recorded cello for Dr. Dre and frequently plays alongside the San Diego Symphony. He has recorded for film and television, including The Walking Dead. In 2000, he was a member of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and performed in the US, Mexico, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe. He plays with Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music, the Arohi Ensemble, los 440’s, Sangam, The Concentrates, Quartetto Fantastico, and the Hutchins Consort, and as a freelance cellist.