With his giant helmet and a swollen purple guitar in his hands, 2-year-old Koen was ready to attend his mother's concert for the first time.

Resting in his father's arms, Koen, eyes wide, watched Donna Grantis send bursts of guitar sound to Paisley Park the other day.

It was not quite like the Mom in concert videos that Koen had seen again and again. It was alive and big and strong.

And he had a criticism after Grantis kissed him.

"Mo 'tabla," he suggested, referring to one of Grantis's instruments.

Koen and other music lovers can hear more tabla when Grantis celebrates the release of his new album "Diamonds & Dynamite" on Thursday in Dakota. The Dakota is more intimate than the spacious sound stage of Paisley, to better appreciate the subtleties of the tabla.

Dakota is where the Grantis quintet debuted in August 2017 and made its debut in Twin Cities in January 2013 in the 3rd edition of Prince's Eye.

Grantis' combo offers an instrumental jazz-rock fusion of the new millennium, as if Jeff Beck was meeting a postmodern Mahavishnu orchestra. The set borrows eight different lanes from the super-highway of fusion in the Hendrixian Crosstown traffic, all with an exotic undertone of the East Indies thanks to the tabla Suphala player.

"Tablas are good for both ambience, meditation, and physics, as well as for really groovy topics like situations where things can become dissonant and chaotic," said Grantis.

Also, when people see these curious hand drums on stage, "they know they are about to have a very different experience."

After composing several songs, Grantis taught his Twin Cities-based group – drummer JT Bates, bassist Cody McKinney and keyboardist Bryan Nichols and Brooklyn-based Suphala – similarly introduced the new material at 3rdEyeGirl . No musical themes, but some lines or progressions agree, then they play.

"The songs were composed but not arranged," Grantis explained. "I've left room for flexibility."

The group recorded the music in two groups at the Minneapolis Terrarium – one just before their first concert and the other seven months later. Then Mike McCready of Pearl Jam added the two-piece guitar.

Grantis met McCready at a 3rdEyeGirl concert in Seattle in 2013. When Pearl Jam gave a concert in Toronto three years later, McCready invited the Toronto native to join them, just three weeks after the death of Prince.

"I went home thinking that a good dose of rock'n'roll would be a good cure," said Grantis, who attended Pearl Jam on a version of "Rockin & # 39". in the Free World by Neil Young. and we talked about collaborating. "

Discovered on YouTube

While living in Toronto, Grantis was discovered on YouTube by Grantis. In 2012, she moved to Twin Cities to form 3rdEyeGirl with bassist Ida Nielsen and harvester Hannah Welton. They toured and recorded with Prince until the end of 2015, when he decided to do his piano and microphone solo tour.

Grantis has learned a lot from Prince, from technical problems like guitar sounds and effects pedals, to a creative vision that covers everything from fashion to the music you play before you go on. scene. And, of course, he taught him everything about funk.

Part of her Purple Funk can be heard here and there on the new Grantis album, but her influences are many, ranging from jazz giants Herbie Hancock to Wayne Shorter to soul queen Aretha Franklin to various guitar gods, including Eric Clapton, BB King and John Scofield.

"In college, I immersed myself in traditional jazz," she said. "That's why I had such an opening when Prince told me Miles Davis's electric period; it has opened up a whole new world. I like the improvisational aspect of jazz. It's total freedom. "

Raised on the rock of Led Zeppelin and AC / DC, Grantis had his first guitar at age 13, then graduated in jazz music from McGill University in Montreal before playing in various groups jazz and rock in Toronto.

Grantis returned to his hometown this month to promote his new album, with interviews on radio and television. But she did not play any concert.

With her musicians, she plans to shoot later this year with the help of her record label, eOne, a Canadian indie imprint that hosts Amos Lee, Metric, Snoop Dogg, Ace Frehley, Chromeo and many others.

Wait again

Grantis stays in touch with the other two members of 3rdEyeGirl. Nielsen, who lives in Denmark, is touring Europe with his own band. Welton, a mother of two in Chicago, runs an online church.

"We can reconnect one day," Grantis told 3rdEyeGirl. "We are definitely friends for life. The musical connection is so deep, especially after spending so much time together. "

Grantis and her husband, Trevor Guy, Artistic Director of Paisley Park, have moved to the Twin Cities in hopes of getting green cards. Two months ago, they moved into their third home, emigrating from uptown to Maple Grove, swapping trendy restaurants for beautiful gyms in the jungle.

"It's now that we have planted roots," she said. "It's a great place to raise a family."

A return to Chanhassen a few weeks ago to play on the Paisley Park stage for the first time since Prince's death in 2016 was, for Grantis, moving and reassuring – and the right choice for the same play.

"Music was the heart of this building," she said a few days later at the Walker Art Center lunch. "I'm trying to think of everything I've learned at that time. It gives me tears in my eyes. I think of what would make him proud.

"I feel by all of us [in 3rdEyeGirl] pursuing our own business is our way of paying tribute to our experience with Prince. He encouraged us. From time to time he would ask, "When will you lead your own band, will it be rock or funk?" He was always looking to the future, always creative. We are on the right path. "

Grantis' life these days is all about making adjustments. With another child expected in May, she must reposition her guitar away from her baby during this spring's concerts.

"The only difference is that my guitar rests on my side rather than on the front," she said. "How many overweight men play guitar? If they can do it, I can do it. It does not affect the way I play. There is no ergonomic difference. "

When she plays guitar or drinking water, the baby reacts.

"This baby is very strong in general and has moved a lot. In rehearsal and in concert, the baby hears everything. I think it's miraculous. "

Koen was in the womb when half of "Diamonds & Dynamite" was recorded. Maybe looking at Mom's work has already inspired her to work on her own guitar techniques.

"He received some toy guitars as a gift. I also let him go for the real thing, "Mom said. "We have a couple of acoustics [guitars] we lie down on the floor and scratch or pinch some strings. And he drives his trucks along the neck of the guitar. Whatever he does, it's cool.

Maybe a tabla.