Satabdi Express

Artist Information

Biography

Named after a famous train in India, Satabdi Express is the brainchild of guitarist/songwriter/composer Dave Cipriani. Satabdi Express combines the ancient with the modern, while striving to maintain authenticity and a sense of heart. Combining the sounds of North Indian Classical music with classic jazz instrumentation and sensibility, the music also brings in other American influences such as country blues, folk and funk, with hints of middle eastern and flamenco sounds as well. A set of music by Satabdi Express would include several originals by Cipriani, then maybe some modal jazz standards, a Django Reinhardt tune, a Ravi Shankar piece written for jazz musicians, or other well-known songs reinterpreted for Indian guitar.

Dave Cipriani was named a 2006 and 2008 recipient of the Individual Artist Award in Solo Instrumental Performance from the Maryland State Arts Council. He studied classical guitar in college, and also studied jazz privately with the late jazz guitar legend Charlie Byrd. He attended master class with renowned classical guitar virtuoso Christopher Parkening. Later, he led several bands after college, combining his knowledge of jazz and classical music with the singer-songwriter and rock traditions.

In 1998 Dave began studying North Indian Classical Music, on slide guitar, first with sitar Maestro Jay Kishor, then in 2003 with Indian slide guitar master Pandit Barun Kumar Pal, one of the senior most disciples of Ravi Shankar. Cipriani traveled to India three times to study with Pal, and currently plays Indian and Indian influenced music on a 20-string guitar custom built by one of the top luthiers of India. Dave is currently finishing an MFA in North Indian music at world-renowned California Institute of the Arts, where he has studied indian music with Maestro Aashish Khan and Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, as well as studying jazz, african and balkan music with guitarists Miroslav Tadic and Larry Koonse

Satabdi Express is rounded out by Jake Leckie on upright bass, Alan Munshower on drums, and Melissa Hullman on Violin.

Variety is the spice of Bass for Jake K. Leckie. He regularly
performs and records jazz, tango, chamber music, gospel, free
improvisation, folk, bluegrass, and new music. A native of Boston,
MA, he studied with John Lockwood, and went to school in Baltimore
where he was under the guidance of Michael Formanek. From Boston to
Baltimore, Barcelona to Banff, Montreal to New York City, Jake enjoys
a career as a multi-instrumentalist and producer. He currently
resides in Brooklyn, NY, and works with The So On and So Forth jazz
trio, Mashed Potangos tango/chamber ensemble, The Satabdi Express
indian classical gypsy jazz fusion quartet, AHL free-tango trio, the
ministry of the Parkchester Baptist Church, and the BCCO. His
performance credits include The Baltimore Jazz and Blues Festival,
Canadian Music Week, The Montreal Jazz Festival, The All Good
Festival, and the Federal Hill Festival. He appears on numerous
recordings as a sideman, and runs his production company, The Organic
Sound Lab.


Alan Munshower started pursuing drums at age 10 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in
music from Goucher. While at school, he performed in Soft Shoe Shuffle, an original fusion/jam
band that released a CD and toured in France. Munshower formed the world-fusion group
Sangita that toured France in 2003. In the past few years, he has been busy with the trio
ricochet. His duo with pianist Nobu Stowe, A-UN, has a forthcoming album on Soul Note featuring tabla master Badal Roy. Munshower can also be seen with the Kiss Quartet, the Philtones, Eva Castillo, Not For Human Hearing, Boostimus!, The So On and So Forth and Sac Au Lait.

Melissa Hullman has served on the violin faculty of the Peabody Institute for the past seven
years. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Peabody Chamber Camp, has served as
co-chair of Peabody Young Peoples String Program, and is past president of the area chapter
of the American String Teachers Association. Hullman holds a bachelor’s of music degree
from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in violin performance and pedagogy from
the Peabody Conservatory.

Instrumentation

Dave Cipriani: 20-string Indian slide guitar, classical & electric guitar, vocals

Jake Leckie: Upright Bass

Alan Munshower: Drums & Percussion

Melissa Hullman: Violin

Discography

"Satabdi Express," 4 song EP

Discography of Dave Cipriani:
- Joanne Juskus, “See Your Face”, various songs, Indian slide and classical guitar
- A Traveling Bonfires Songbook, Volume 1, independently released compilation, features 1 song by David Cipriani
- Dave Cipriani, “America and Other Faraway Places” Self-released. composer, solo acoustic, slide & Indian slide guitar
- David Cipriani, “faith & doubt” Self-released. songwriter, lyricist, arranger, producer, lead vocals, lead, slide & rhythm guitar
- Kelly Bell Band, “Chasing the Sun” Songwriter, “Going to the Valley”

Links

• MySpace
• YouTube

Audio

• Baba
  Listen   Download
• Funky A-rab
  Listen   Download
• Indian Melody
  Listen   Download
• Dirt Man
  Listen   Download
• Barunji's Waltz
  Listen   Download
• Baba (live)
  Listen   Download

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Powerful and Spiritual, Thoroughly Engaging [+ Show ]
  

  Baltimore’s Dave Cipriani is a guitar virtuoso, period. His merging of eastern and western musical ...Baltimore’s Dave Cipriani is a guitar virtuoso, period. His merging of eastern and western musical styles and cultures is thoroughly engaging on “America and Other Faraway Places”. After repeated listening, both the subtle and dramatic nuances of his songwriting and playing continue to mesmerize. This instrumental, acoustic guitar based album has enough range, energy and depth to satisfy everyone from the casual listener to the most anal technician. No surprise, considering that Cipriani is a former student of the one and only jazz guitar master Charlie Byrd and classical virtuoso Christopher Parkening.
  
  Dave does admit, however, that the only thing he really learned from Parkening is how to shape his nails. Maybe. Of course, studying with sitar master Jay Kishor obviously didn’t hurt either. Cipriani integrates sitar techniques and alluring eastern slides into his guitar compositions. The result is very powerful and spiritual.
  

• Fantastic [+ Show ]
  

  On Saturday I went and saw Satabdi Express... Every band says that they are a “unique fusion of bla...On Saturday I went and saw Satabdi Express...
  Every band says that they are a “unique fusion of blah, blah and blah.” But these guys are truly a unique fusion.
  
  First, they are dead-serious jazz artists. Great stand-up bass guy. And then the kind of serious, precise drummer who uses the brush drumsticks and gets his head really close to the cymbals as he taps on them ever so slightly.
  
  But then the guitarist, Dave, plays a hybrid western guitar-Indian sitar. It has 19 strings... And he plays it with a bottleneck slide.
  The result is fantastic. After a long day in the sun at the lake with the fam, this concert was a far-out, meditative experience. I bought the CD and continue to jam to it.

• Inner Fire and Inspiration [+ Show ]
  

  (review of unfinished, unreleased recording): The trio surely developed a strong sound with convi...(review of unfinished, unreleased recording):
  
  The trio surely developed a strong sound with convincing results, where Adam Hopkins and Chris Lerch form the rhythmic jazz fundament core, and Dave Cirpiani is the experimenter rooting in Indian Classical music (like on the very beautiful raga with jazzy drum/bass, "Indian Melody"), in crossovers with Indian style as reference ("Norwegian Mood", a wonderful and perfect song interpretation, with Indian crossover swinging jazz style, but also the pop song reference) but also with a bluesy, funky influence (like on "Funky A-Rab") as long as it can get everywhere that extra 'classical jazz' flavor with the other styles.
  
  The classical guitar styles must have had a numerous kind of style influence, which makes it harder to place how the mix came to form itself because it never is purely one traditional form (on "Goodbye Donkey", "Sorry Charlie"), which is another strong, inspired point, even when the drum/bass on such tracks become more improvised on the moment, the rhythmic skills are attractive enough to convince of its momentual(sic) action, in an interesting jazz way.
  
  "Wayne's Bane" with classical guitar, is a more poetic once more almost flamenco-rhythmic classical excursion, with the inevitable for the trio, inner jazz swing, followed by very fitting "Baba" a melodic improvisation and excursion with comparable inner fire and inspiration. This track has an attractive bowed double bass solo. The "Chase" is played on Indian slide guitar, and is a bluesy Indian crossover style with its inner jazz swinging, as if part of a raga highlight. Last track, "Dirt Man" is a country blues slide guitar improvisation played on the Indian instrument.
  
  Recommended. I look very much forward to hear the final mix and see the packaged result.
  

• Organic, Soulful [+ Show ]
  

  Award-winning guitarist/songwriter/composer Dave Cipriani writes songs that reflect the intersection...Award-winning guitarist/songwriter/composer Dave Cipriani writes songs that reflect the intersection of Indian music, folk fingerpicking & country blues, classic jazz, post-punk rock and heartfelt singer-songwriter styles. He plays electric and classical guitars, 19-string Indian slide guitar, combining things in an organic, soulful way that brings the best each has to offer. His second album is America & Other Faraway Places, a solo guitar album. In addition to solo guitar and songwriter performances, he is focusing much of his time on his latest project, an semi-acoustic trio called Satabdi Express.

Setlist

Originals:

Indian Melody (played on Indian Slide guitar)
Funky A-rab (classical guitar played in weird blues slide style with funky rhythm)
The Chase (played on Indian Slide guitar)
Baba (classical guitar, middle eastern style)
Ali & Ali (African style acoustic guitar)
Barunji’s Waltz (played on Indian Slide guitar)
Dirt Man (country blues slide)
Bob & Lenny take Bombay (5/4 blues played Indian style on 19 string Slide guitar)
Juicy Bits (funky post MMW ethereal sounds)
Alone (post modern bossa nova)
Wayne's Bane (5/4 Indian inspired modal tune)
Sujit's Dream (Middle Eastern flavored song)
The Moors (Spanish tinged modal fun)

Covers:

Django Reinhardt Minor Swing
Nuages
Beatles Norwegian Wood (played on Indian Slide guitar)
The Cure Love Cats (played Django Reinhardt Style)
Gershwin Summertime
Miles Davis So What
Freddie Freeloader
Flamenco Sketches
All Blues
John Coltrane Love Supreme
Ravi Shankar Fire Night (ironically, played on jazz guitar)
Louis Armstrong Black and Blue
St. James Infirmary
Nick Drake One of these Things First

sets usually go 45-60 minutes, longer if we are feeling the love.

Basic Requirements

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