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Urban Nature Music
EPK
Todd Boston's music has been gaining popularity and recognition worldwide. He received nominations in the 2003 Arizona Music Awards and in the 2005 California Music Awards. Todd was chosen as Top Performer for Philly Rising at the esteemed World Cafe Live in 2005. His first two albums (Urban Nature, Coming Home and Todd Boston Alive) have been consistently featured on Echoes, the two-hour nightly music show heard on over 130 NPR channels and distributed by Public Radio International. Urban Nature Coming Home was voted #13 for the Best CDs of 2009 on the Echoes listeners poll. Todd Boston, Alive was chosen as the CD of the Month of October 2010 by host John Diliberto.
Read the review
(see below)
Todd has performed at events featuring Joan Baez, Michael Franti, Jai Uttal, MC Yogi, Sila and the AfroFunk Experience and has performed with Bay Area Luminaries Tina Malia, Shimshai and Suzanne Sterling among others. He has performed at prominent West Coast festivals such as Earthdance, Harmony, Wanderlust, as well as the 2007 Mac Conference. He has played at venues such as The Fillmore (SF), Marin Civic Center, XPN Studio World Cafe Live (PA) and many others.
Todd has studied North Indian Classical music with the late great maestro Ali Akbar Khan and is currently working with guitar virtuoso Alex De Grassi. He has begun working on his next full length album to be produced with Will Ackerman (Grammy winner and Windham Hill Records Founder)
Todd Boston has been inspired by many artists, from the unique guitar stylings of Stanley Jordan and Jimi Hendrix, to the soulful playing of Eric Clapton and BB King. He has mastered alternative tuning styles in the tradition of Jimmy Page, Leo Kottke, Will Ackerman, Alex De Grassi and Michael Hedges. Todd has found inspiration in the musicianship of Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar, R. Carlos Nakai among others.
Todd believes music is healing and continues to explore the deep relationship that exists between music and movement. In addition to his stage performances, Todd accompanies yoga classes across the U.S. in his project Live Music Yoga Flow. He is also an educator and believes that music is an important part of our communities and offers his time to schools, hospitals, institutions, and healing centers to share and spread the powerful healing effects of music.
Combining musical talent and modern looping technology, Todd Boston fuses acoustic world instruments together to create a unique and beautiful sound. With no pre-recorded tracks he mixes and blends the instruments and his voice in harmony to create a musical journey of soulful, heartfelt compositions.
Urban Nature
Todd Boston & Ramesh Kannan join musical forces to create a fresh approach to an East meets West World Fusion sound. Blending guitar, tabla, flute, sarod, voice and percussion with modern looping technology to create a swelling live orchestral looping sound.
View Videos
www.UrbanNatureMusic.com
Todd Boston & Ramesh Kannan join musical forces to create a fresh approach to an East meets West World Fusion sound. Blending guitar, tabla, flute, sarod, voice and percussion with modern looping technology to create a swelling live orchestral looping sound.
View Videos
www.UrbanNatureMusic.com
Events
On-Air Concert for Echoes, PRI radio
Earthdance Festival, Laytonville, CA
Wanderlust Festival, Lake Tahoe, CA
Harmony Festival, Santa Rosa, CA
Yoga for Youth Benefit, Grass Valley, CA
World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Mac Conference, San Francisco, CA
The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
Marin Civic Center, San Rafael, CA
Tuff Rock Music Festival, CA
Earth Mother Mind Jam, Honolulu, HI
Temple Bar, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Man New Years Eve 2006, San Diego, CA
Todd Boston's Album Urban Nature, Coming Home with Percussionist Ramesh Kannan has been featured on Echoes, the the 2 hour, nightly music soundscape heard on over 130 public radio stations and distributed by Public Radio International.
Coming Home was voted #13 on the top 25 listeners choice award for 2009 on Echoes, sharing the list with artists Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Ottmar Liebert, Larana Mckennit, and David Darling among others.
Coming Home was voted #13 on the top 25 listeners choice award for 2009 on Echoes, sharing the list with artists Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Ottmar Liebert, Larana Mckennit, and David Darling among others.
This Month's Pick: Echoes CD of the Month
Todd Boston Alive
Todd Boston is a child of Windham Hill records and Shakti and you can hear that with his world fusion duo, Urban Nature and on Alive, his solo debut. Although to call it solo might be a misnomer. Boston plays acoustic guitar as well as flute, bass and percussion and he's joined on many tracks by his Urban Nature partner, Ramesh Kannan on tabla.
He's also doing live looping. He'll lay a guitar line down and just as you're getting lost in the melody, a new theme comes in, played in real time while the original melody continues in a loop.
That makes Alive a lot more than your standard finger-style solo guitar album. Boston creates deep meditative pieces that swirl with melody, from the refined strains of "Harmony" with Boston weaving flute melodies through his guitar filigree to the gentle sound of "The Brightest Night," where he plays a simple solo line, plucking harmonics against a back drop of bass and crickets. "Midnight Dreaming," is a caravan crossing, with Kannan's tabla groove loping underneath Boston who first plays guitar and then brings in the bansuri flute.
Calling this album meditative might be misleading. Much of it is buoyant, like "Just The Beginning" with its Celtic trilling once Boston hits the solo run. The folk-like refrains of "Skipping" sound like an Appalachian folk song with Indian percussion. Boston isn't afraid to toss anything into the mix, including some country slide guitar on “3AM.”
Todd Boston is getting into a different sound on Alive. You can hear his roots, but he has a more pastoral feel than Shakti, especially when cellist Matthew Schoening guests on the luxurious expanse of "Twilight." There's also a more expansive approach to melody than you'll find on most Windham Hill records.
Todd Boston is now working with Windham Hill founder/guitarist Will Ackerman, but I'm not sure how much that can improve upon Alive, an auspicious debut from a soulful musician.
© 2010 John Diliberto
Todd Boston Alive
Todd Boston is a child of Windham Hill records and Shakti and you can hear that with his world fusion duo, Urban Nature and on Alive, his solo debut. Although to call it solo might be a misnomer. Boston plays acoustic guitar as well as flute, bass and percussion and he's joined on many tracks by his Urban Nature partner, Ramesh Kannan on tabla.
He's also doing live looping. He'll lay a guitar line down and just as you're getting lost in the melody, a new theme comes in, played in real time while the original melody continues in a loop.
That makes Alive a lot more than your standard finger-style solo guitar album. Boston creates deep meditative pieces that swirl with melody, from the refined strains of "Harmony" with Boston weaving flute melodies through his guitar filigree to the gentle sound of "The Brightest Night," where he plays a simple solo line, plucking harmonics against a back drop of bass and crickets. "Midnight Dreaming," is a caravan crossing, with Kannan's tabla groove loping underneath Boston who first plays guitar and then brings in the bansuri flute.
Calling this album meditative might be misleading. Much of it is buoyant, like "Just The Beginning" with its Celtic trilling once Boston hits the solo run. The folk-like refrains of "Skipping" sound like an Appalachian folk song with Indian percussion. Boston isn't afraid to toss anything into the mix, including some country slide guitar on “3AM.”
Todd Boston is getting into a different sound on Alive. You can hear his roots, but he has a more pastoral feel than Shakti, especially when cellist Matthew Schoening guests on the luxurious expanse of "Twilight." There's also a more expansive approach to melody than you'll find on most Windham Hill records.
Todd Boston is now working with Windham Hill founder/guitarist Will Ackerman, but I'm not sure how much that can improve upon Alive, an auspicious debut from a soulful musician.
© 2010 John Diliberto