Steve Gorn
Steve Gorn, whose bansuri flute is said to “re-align the cells,” is creating a new idiom by combining the essence of classical Indian tradition with a contemporary world music sensibility.
He is featured on the 2011 Grammy-Award winning recording, “Miho – Journey to the Mountain,” with the Paul Winter Consort, and the Academy Award winning Documentary film, Born into Brothels. He has performed Indian classical Music and new American Music on the bansuri bamboo flute, soprano saxophone and clarinet in concerts and festivals throughout the world and is featured on Grammy-nominated CDs: Paul Simon: You are the One, Angelique Kidjo: Oyo, Silvia Nakkach/David Darling: Long & Longing, and Paul Avggerinos: Bhakti.
His unique blend of Indian music and contemporary world music can be heard on recordings with Paul Simon, Glen Velez, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Winter, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Tony Levin, Adam Rudolph, Layne Redmond, Richie Havens, Alessandra Belloni, Badal Roy, Simon Shaheen, Deepak Chopra, Robert Bly, Coleman Barks, and numerous Indian musicians. A prolific composer, he has released numerous solo and collaborative CDs. (See his website for his extensive discography.)
Steve’s early steps on his path were taken as a young jazz musician studying composition at Penn State University. He noticed how John Coltrane and Charles Lloyd had begun to incorporate aspects of Indian music into their playing. He investigated modal music and listened to Bismallah Khan who played the shenai, (Indian oboe), and to Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan who were then only beginning to become known to Western audiences. Drawn by these sounds, he followed the music east and found himself in Benares, India in 1969, in a boat on the Ganges with the famous sarangi master, Gopal Misra, listening to his classical raga float out over the water in the evening light…
Returning to the U.S. he continued his study of Indian music with Pandit Raghunath Seth, and brought his elegant bansuri sound to American pop music, influencing a wide range of musicians, recording with Paul Simon, Richie Havens, Paul Winter, Jack DeJohnette, Glen Velez, and many others. Deepak Chopra, Krishna Das, Coleman Barks, Jai Uttal, Jerome Robbins, and Julie Taymor are among those who have sought out his virtuoso bamboo flute. He has composed for film, television, dance and theatre, and performed in concerts and festivals throughout the world, drawing from classical Indian, jazz and world music to create a distinctive signature sound.
Describing his 1996 performance in Mumbai at the Sangeet Research Academy’s Indian Music and the West Seminar, SRA West Chairman, Arvind Parikh has said, “Steve Gorn’s concert was widely appreciated for its outstanding musicianship…. and has won him a host of admirers.” In 1998, Steve returned to India performing to enthusiastic audiences at The Nehru Center, NCPA, and the Dadar Matunga Music Circle in Mumbai.
Steve often performs and records with Confluence’s Benjy Wertheimer and with David Michael.