SANTA CRUZ GOOD TIMES
15 April 2010
Music – Features
‘Music for the Future’
read the full interview >>
by John Malkin

“Two worlds collide for PremaSoul’s universal appeal”
“What do you get when you combine Southern soul music, jazz rhythms and Hindu devotional chanting? It could be called universal love. In fact that’s what Sheela Bringi and Clinton Patterson call their band: PremaSoul. “Prema is a sanskrit word that means universal love,” says Bringi, whose parents moved to the United States from India in the ’70s. She explains further, “My first love of music came from devotional singing, or bajans. It’s infused into everything I do musically. I love to take these old melodies and play them in new ways, in new settings, for new audiences.

PremaSoul combines Bringi on vocals, flute and harp, with Clinton Patterson singing, playing keyboards and trumpet. The band also includes a divine rhythm section of bass, tabla and drumkit. PremaSoul will be performing that unique blend in a concert to benefit Haiti relief efforts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, at Kuumbwa Jazz. Tickets are $20 in advance and available at Gateways Books. All proceeds will help fund a new orphanage for Haitian children whose parents were killed in the recent earthquake. For more information about humanitarian efforts in Haiti and worldwide by Amma and the MA Center, see embracingtheworld.org…”read the full interview >>

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ORANGE COUNTY WEEKLY
may 14 – 20, 2010
“What’s That Sound? Eclectic Company wants you to discover OC’s musical underbelly.” read the full article >>
…”Los Angeles-based PremaSoul are more of a jazzy experiment. Using horn sections, East Indian folk music and authentic, Old-World instrumentation, the band consists of two constant members–vocalist/harpist Sheela Bringi and trumpeter/pianist/vocalist Clinton Patterson. On stage, songs such as “Mishra Time” hang on a calm and colorful mosaic of intriguing, rhythmic meditations.”