Phil Scarff

Saxophonist and composer Phil Scarff performs Indian classical music and jazz, and leads the acclaimed world-jazz ensembles, Natraj and the Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group. World-jazz appearances include India's JazzYatra and Prayojana International Music Festival; PANAFEST, Ghana's major international festival; the Guelph Jazz Festival, Canada; the Boston Globe Jazz Festival. Indian classical performances include India's famed Tansen Samaroh (Gwalior); Nehru Center, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. and Dadar-Matunga Cultural Centre (Mumbai); Saptak School of Music (Ahmedabad); Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture (Kolkata); ICCR Theater and India Habitat Centre (Delhi); and JKK (Jaipur). Phil is featured on 40 internationally acclaimed CDs/DVDs, including seven as leader.

Phil has shared the spotlight with icons of Indian classical music including saxophone great Kadri Gopalnath, percussion masters Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman and Trichy Sankaran, Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N. Ravikiran, and bamboo flute maestros Ronu Majumdar and Shashank; as well as African master drummers Godwin Agbeli and Abubakari Lunna. Phil performs and records with creative jazz ensembles including Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Composers Alliance, Filmprov, and OddSong, and Sandy Prager.

Phil has presented workshops and lectures on jazz and world music at institutions such as the New England Conservatory of Music, Berklee College of Music, Univ. of North Texas, Univ. of OK, Tufts Univ., Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts at Kalakshetra Foundation (Chennai, India), Lawrence Univ., Bowdoin College, Dartmouth College, the Guelph Jazz Festival, the University of Rhode Island, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He studied with noted saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and percussion great Bob Gullotti. Phil studied in Pune, India, with vocalist Pandit Shreeram G. Devasthali, leading sundri artist Pandit Suryakant Khaladkar, and shehnai master Pandit Shyamrao Lonkar, and in Boston with sitarist Peter Row and vocalist Warren Senders. He studied the intricate polyrhythms of West Africa and performed as a member of the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society.

Offerings:

Phil Scarff offers jazz, world-jazz, and North Indian classical (Hindustani) concerts. His approach to Indian classical music is modeled after shehnai and bamboo flute, and his concerts cover a range of Indian classical styles, including bada khyal, chota khyal, tarana, thumri, and dhun.

Phil Scarff presents educational workshops and residencies on Indian classical music, world music, and jazz. Workshops are tailored to the musical level and interests of your group or audience. They are interactive, informative, entertaining, and engaging. Phil is experienced in presenting workshops to audiences of all ages, from children through adults, and of all musical levels, from general and family audiences through college-level music educators. Contact us for more information.

Music can be provided for weddings, functions, and corporate events, including diversity and multicultural programs. For Hindu wedding ceremonies, we recommend shehnai-style music, focusing on festive ragas. We work with the family and the priest, and take cues from the flow of the ceremony so that the music we provide best enhances the ceremony. We recommend a blend of Indian classical music and jazz for cocktails, dinner, or other background music. This is a very effective way of providing music that bridges cultures and appeals to guests of different backgrounds and cultures.
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