Deepak Ram is a multitalented artist probably best known for his work in traditional North Indian classical music. He’s collaborated with musicians from around the world and is a gifted composer in his own right. Ram plays the bansuri, an alto flute from India, Pakistan, and Nepal. The bansuri has a deep tradition and is linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha. As the myth describes, the bansuri was said to be used by Krishna in his rasa lila (roughly translated to mean “performance play”) as he drove the women wild.
Deepak Ram learned to drive the women crazy in 1975 as he began his formal training under Sri Jeram Bhana in South Africa. Ram headed to Mumbai, India, two years later to continue training under India’s master flute maker, the late Sri Suryakant Limaye. Ram continued to study under several masters of the instrument, learning more each time. In 1996, he earned a Masters degree in music from Rhodes University in South Africa.
Since then, Ram has gone on to make albums that have explored his ingenuity and his technical dexterity with the bansuri. He has six solo albums to his credit and worked with various musicians, including Melvin Peters and Darius Brubeck. Ram’s bansuri is heard on various movie soundtracks, including The Fast And The Furious, Matrix Revolutions, and Stealth. His music is also featured on a variety of Indian films, including Maya.
With Steps, Ram explores the world of jazz. Naturally, the flute is nothing new in the world of jazz music. Herbie Mann, Charles Lloyd, and others have used the flute for decades. The bansuri, though, is just not something that pops up in jazz all that often. So when Deepak Ram pulls out his bansuri to take on Trane’s “Giant Steps” to open his album, things get real interesting real quick.
Ram might be the only person in history to have mastered “Giant Steps” on bansuri, but this simply reflects his life experience with one foot in ragas and the other ensconced in jazz. Ram’s roots in jazz probably have something to do with his upbringing in Sophiatown, a mixed area in South Africa where cultures mingled and many of South Africa’s best jazz musicians were born. With his home pulsing with a combination of Bollywood and his brother’s jazz records, Deepak’s love for music was predestined.
On Steps, Ram explores that combination and the results are exquisite. After “Giant Steps,” Ram pulls away on the affecting “Madiba’s Dance,” a song for Nelson Mandela. Madiba is a nickname for Mandela; it is his clan name and it is used out of respect. The song is dedicated to Mandela, as he is one of few presidents to stand in front of a crowd and dance. With rhythm everywhere in South Africa, it might be impossible not to dance. “Madiba’s Dance” is a special song for Deepak, who plays it to honour Mandela and his struggle.
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