Lewis Pragasam
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Lewis Pragasam (10 August 1957 – 18 December 2023) was a
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
n percussionist and drummer recognized for his contributions to Malaysian
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
music. He was the founder of the progressive Jazz fusion band Asiabeat in 1979. The group achieved international fame by blending Asian ethnic rhythms and western jazz.


Early life

Pragasam was born on 10 August 1957 in
Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur Brickfields is a neighbourhood (as well as an administrative zone) located on the western flank of central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is known as Kuala Lumpur's Little India (location), Little India due to the high percentage of Malaysian Indi ...
. His father was of Indian origin while his mother was from
Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
in then Burma. He did not have formal music training, but, in his later years, he was a student of Indian
mridangam The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...
player
Karaikudi Mani Karaikudi Mani (born Ganapathy Subramanyam; 11 September 1945 – 4 May 2023) was an Indian mridangam player. Early life Ganapathi Subramaniam popularly known as Karaikudi Mani was born on 11 September 1945, in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu as the so ...
. Growing up in Brickfields, he was exposed to a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. He would later attribute some of his works to the early exposure that he had to Indian Hindu temple drummers, Chinese drummers preparing for the dragon dances, and the Buddhist monks in the monasteries.


Career


The Revolvers and jazz fusion

In 1976, Pragasam joined the Revolvers, a Kuala Lumpur band, starting out as a drummer. His transition to jazz fusion was driven by his admiration for American jazz percussionist
Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...
, who was then playing with John McLaughlin's
Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...
. This shift laid the foundation for his future endeavors in the fusion of Asian and Western music. In 1977, Pragasam also helped organize the first
jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...
concert in Malaysia at the
University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...
.


Asiabeat

Pragasam founded the progressive Jazz fusion band Asiabeat in 1979. The band gained recognition for its cosmic progressive, all-percussion style, fusing Asian ethnic rhythms with Western jazz. The group released a self-titled album, ''Asiabeat Project'' in 1983, and followed it up with ''Dare to Dream'' (1984), ''Drumusique'' (1993), ''Monsoon'' (1994), and after a long break, ''Akar'' (2021).


Collaborations and advertising

Pragasam's influence extended globally through collaborations with world-renowned artists such as Bob James,
Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts ...
, and
John Kaizan Neptune John Kaizan Neptune (born November 13, 1951, in Oakland, California, United States) is an American player and builder of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). He is known particularly for his use of the instrument in non-traditional contexts, ...
. His performances at major international festivals included a
royal command performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...
for the then
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
in 1995. He traveled to the United States on a
Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
in the early 1990s, where he studied
Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...
and
World music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
. During this time, he served as the
artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...
at the
East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...
in
Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...
. Pragasam also composed music for advertising jingles including the
Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...
Deepavali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual ...
commercials titled ''Duelling Massuers.'' The campaign ran between 1996 and 1999 and won awards including one at the Asian Advertising Awards.


Educational contributions

In the mid-1990s, Pragasam founded the Groove School and contributed to the awareness of percussion and drum culture in Malaysia. He also served as the music director at Malaysia's Centre of Performing Arts at Help Institute. He also delivered a series of lectures called "Drum Talk" giving lessons on percussion.


Death

Pragasam died on 18 December 2023 in
Petaling Jaya Petaling Jaya (), colloquially referred to as "PJ", is a city in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Originally developed as a Satellite city, satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, it is part of the G ...
. He was 66. He was performing along to "
Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is an English hymn and Christmas carol. It was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts. It is usually sung to the American composer Lowell Mason's 1848 arrangement of a tune attributed to George Fride ...
" at a Christmas concert when he collapsed from a heart attack.


Selected discography


Asiabeat

Source(s): * ''Asiabeat Project'' (1983) * ''Spirit of the People'' (1991) * ''Drumusique'' (1993) * ''Monsoon'' (1994) * ''Urban Beyond'' (2007) * "Raga Jaya" (single) (2016) * ''Dare to Dream'' (2016) * ''Golden Lotus'' (2017) * ''Akar'' (2021)


Other acts

Source(s): * ''Book of the Key'' (2004) * ''Asianergy ''(2005) * ''East West Connection'' (2022)


Published works

* * * *


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pragasam, Lewis 1957 births 2023 deaths Jazz fusion arrangers Musicians from Kuala Lumpur Musicians who died on stage Malaysian people of Indian descent Malaysian people of Burmese descent 20th-century drummers 20th-century Malaysian musicians 20th-century male musicians 21st-century drummers 21st-century Malaysian musicians 21st-century male musicians