Since returning from our trip to India Feb-April 2016, things have really been picking up in my professional life. A lot of new tabla students joined my lessons and they are all learning very well, and almost all the older students have shown greater enthusiasm too. June in particular was an amazing month in which I got to accompany 3 separate international artists: Carnatic vocalist OS Arun in a devotional concert, sarangi master and regular musical partner Sangeet Mishra, and amazing sitarist Pt Kushal Das. More on the Kushal Das concert in my next post...
- Sun Apr 10 Helena Joshi Kathak workshop - I was invited to accompany Helena's Kathak dance class.
- Sat Apr 16 Cairns: Spirit of Bhakti - Another little trip for the wonderful Spirit of Bhakti.
- Fri Apr 22 Festival of Tibet: Bardo Songs - Tenzin Choegyal and friends - An amazing collection of improvising musicians plus an old Tibetan painter creating a masterpiece on the spot makes for a sensational show. The justaposition of Tenzin Choegyal with Yeshe Reiners' rough voice and sweet kora and Peter Hunt's smooth jazzy vocals, guitar and trumpet, along with Tenzin's usual Tibet2Timbuk2 team of Marcello (guitar) and myself (tabla) really did click magnificently. There was a nice wide range of songs and a great improvisational chemistry.
- Sat May 14 Chinatown: Tabla Tarrango! @ Buddha's Birthday Festival
Tabla Tarrango! - Thejan, Jesinthan and Shen with Adarshbir Singh on dilruba
- Sat Jun 4 St Lucia: Sounds of India - OS Arun (devotional songs)
I was called up on the day of the concert to join in with these top level South Indian musicians. The concert was part of a very big classical programme entitled "Sounds of India" also featuring Ganesh and Jayanthi Kumaresh (violin/veena) and Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohan veena). OS Arun only found out the day before that it had been promoted as "devotional" and so tabla would be needed. I got called up to come and meet the guys at sound check. I had lots of fun following Bhupi on the mridangam.
- Sat Jun 11 West End: Kathak dance workhop with Helena Joshi
- Sat Jun 11 West End: Spirit of Bhakti featuring Sangeet Mishra - a really wonderful concert!
- Sun Jun 12 Mullumbimby: Sangeet Mishra, Shai Shriki, Shen Flindell
- Sat Jun 18 BEMAC: Pt Kushal Das – Sublime Master of Sitar - More on this in a separate post. It was amazing.
- Sun Jun 26 Mt Gravatt: Baithak featuring Murali Ramakrishan (bansuri) and Shen with students - I was very happy that two of my senior students, Sanjey and Jesinthan came along to join the concert. We gave a tabla demonstration focusing on recognising various thekas, then we accompanied Murali Ramakrishnan (bansuri) and his wife and daughter (vocal).
No comments:
Post a Comment