Many Bodies, One Mind - Diana Purim and Krishna Booker of Eyedentity Jackie's Groove

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“Many in body but one in mind” is an ancient Buddhist concept which signifies a unity that has at its heart, respect for the diverse and unique qualities of each individual. This unity can be formed only among those who respect one another and cherish each other’s unique attributes and abilities, while working in harmony to compensate for one another’s weaknesses. In essence, many people having the same feeling, thought or aim toward a goal.
This has been a major theme for Eyedentity over the years and through many transformations since its inception in 1997. Searching for their own voices in a family of giants, it can be witnessed in the desire of its founding members to individuate themselves from their legendary forefathers, all the while preserving, sharing and honoring their history as they forge ahead together into the musical unknown.
Diana Purim began her musical career in 1972, touring with Chick Corea’s Original Return to Forever in the belly of her mother. She grew up on the road traveling like a gypsy from country to country with her parents, Brazilian Jazz pioneers, singer Flora Purim and percussionist Airto Moreira. Krishna Booker is the son of renowned Jazz bassist, Walter Booker, nephew of Wayne Shorter and godson of Herbie Hancock. Credited by Herbie in his book for introducing him to Hip Hop and the idea for “Rock It”, Krishna began his musical career beat-boxing for Herbie. He later went on to making original music with Diana, his wife and childhood friend.
The two share a deep love of music and a background in Jazz, Funk, Brazilian and Latin Fusion. Their passion for all kinds of music fueled the fire of their creativity and together, they stretched the boundaries of Hip Hop by fusing it with all their multicultural musical influences. “For the purists, we remind them that even Jazz is an art form born of Blues and Classical music. In fact,” explains Diana, “all of the world’s music has evolved from its most primitive indigenous origins, being shaped and molded by geographical, political, social and cultural influence to become what it is today.”
Using their Hip Hop experience to carry them through their first Trip Hop venture, they found some success with a single called “Heavy Interference” from their first release. “It was a struggle for us to find our true sound,” says band leader / composer / percussionist / producer, Krishna. “We’ve been influenced and inspired by so many styles of music and were using the Eyedentity platform to experiment with them all. Although we had some brilliant moments, we hadn’t achieved a homogenous and unified sound until now. I feel like we have finally found Eyedentity’s identity with this new album.”
During the search for their unique Urban/Brazilian sound, they began to notice commonalities in the art and music of varying countries, especially within the slave
culture, music, spirituality and art of oppressed peoples. In Brazil, slaves were allowed to bring their culture from their countries of origin. We clearly see this reflected in their spirituality, dance, art, food and music. The slaves in America were more restricted and forced to abandon their culture for the customs of their oppressors or risk being beaten or killed for not complying. Yet somehow, they found other ways of expressing their authenticity without risking life and limb through the musical mediums of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Hip Hop, etc…