Emperor of Tabla

Emperor of Tabla was a title bestowed upon Guruji, Pandit Sharda Sahai-ji, by the mahant (head) of the Sankat Mochan Temple in Benares. I thought it fitting then to use this title for the first annual celebration concert in honour of Guruji. It was also Saraswati puja and Basant Panchmi, so a very auspicious date for the event.

I was really touched by the amount of people that attended. The Sivananda Centre has always been an important patron of Indian music in Montreal, but I have never seen the place so full! Thank you so much to all the participants and attendees for making it such a special evening!

Caroline welcomed everyone with her story of meeting Guruji, and the ensuing documentary project. We then proceeded to tabla solos by three of my students: Jean Greusard, Emily Thompson, and Parker Bert. Emily and Parker were accompanied on cello by Kaitlyn Raitz, and I accompanied Jean on harmonium. This was Jean's first time playing tabla in public and he performed really solidly in his Jhaptaal solo. Next was Emily with her solo in Rupaktaal, followed by Parker with a solo in Teentaal. They all did really well!

Jean reciting a tukra.

Emily deep in concentration.

Parker and Kaitlyn

Parker looking very confident!

Guru-bhai Ravi Singh, who came in from Toronto with his family, shared stories about Guruji and the Benares gharana between the solos. After the student solos, Ravi and I played our duet in Teentaal, accompanied by Kaitlyn on cello. Ravi and I had spoken about playing as a duo in the past, but unfortunately the opportunity never materialized; last night was the perfect occasion for our first duo outing. We played bhumika and uthaan, followed by Benarsi theka through three speeds, all in conversation. Ravi played an ari angrusthana, and I followed with a rela. We then joined together for an exchange in the famous DhaRaDhaDheTeTe Benarsi bant, through the laykaris (4-5-6-7-8), culminating in gat and gat-fard in rela. We then switched to madhya laya and went through a number of tukras and parans, each with a story linked to Guruji. We both had a great time, and the audience seemed to enjoy very much. I am very much looking forward to the next time!

A wonderful celebration of Guruji and the tradition that he passed on to us. Thank you to all who made this event so special.

A special thanks to Ravi Singh and his family for coming all the way from Toronto to participate, and to my students Parker, Emily, Jean, and Kaitlyn for their contributions. Thank you to the Sivananda Centre in Montreal for hosting, to Jonathan Voyer for helping with the sound, and to Caroline Tabah for the photos!

Update #2 - TAAL - The Rhythm of Life Documentary Film Fundraiser

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the TAAL documentary film fundraiser so far! Your generous contributions are much appreciated! Here is another short video clip for the project. Please considering donating a little something. Every bit helps!

In this clip, I am giving a brief overview of the idea of bol, the vocal syllables of the tabla. It is part of a much larger interview that Caroline did with me in Benares last year. It's a pretty special location, on the bank of the Ganges in Varanasi, on the unpopulated side. If you have been to Benares, you know what I mean... All of Benares is to one side of the Ganges, and there's pretty much nothing at all on the other side. It's a relatively quiet place, though you can hear bits of activity around us, as is the norm in India!

New Video from the TAAL Documentary Film Project

Dear friends,

Here is a new video clip from filmmaker Caroline Tabah's TAAL - The Rhythm of Life documentary film project fundraiser. I hope you enjoy it! Please visit the TAAL fundraising campaign website. The project truly needs your help in order to succeed, so please do consider making a contribution. Every bit helps enormously!


This is taken from a recent performance of Raag Janasammohini with santoor player, Jonathan Voyer at Space Gathering 2012. You may remember seeing the psychedelic photos a few posts ago.

Second Annual Summer Tabla Workshop

This year's summer tabla workshop took place from July 2 to 8 at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. I'm really happy with how the workshop turned out this year. The number of students has increased and some travelled from quite far away to be here, coming from Ontario, PEI, Wisconsin, and Florida.

The tabla workshop participants, from L to R: Mathieu, Kingsley, Dave, Aaron, Jean-Marc, Lisa, me, Fred, Marc, Linda. Missing from photo: Emily, Kameel, Rajit, Tomer.

The students were divided into beginner and intermediate groups. Each had four 90 minute classes, plus we all met every day for a two-hour technique practice session. It was really evident by the end of the week how much everyone had improved; it really brings me joy to see their progress. I also held two video viewing sessions where we watched a performance and a documentary on a nice big screen via a projector, and an excellent sound system.

On the last day, we concluded the workshop with a Guru puja, in celebration of Guru Purnima. All the students participated in the preparations and took part. After the puja, I distributed the prasad, we had a nice Indian meal, and wrapped up with a final practice session. After a week of daily two-hour practice sessions, this final session passed by amazingly fast!

Kingsley working on the large mala (flower garland).

Applying the tikkas.

Making an offering.

Fred doing puja.

Kingsley doing puja.

Dave doing puja

This being the first Guru Purnima since Guruji passed away, his presence was sorely missed more than ever. It was really heartwarming to have all the students participate, making their offerings and giving thanks to Guruji and his ancestors. The entire model for this workshop is based on how Guruji ran his workshops in the past. It was great to see former summer tabla workshop participants return this year, also wishing to keep this great tradition alive. I think that Guruji would have been very happy to see his traditions continuing in this way.

The final group practice session.

Until next year!

Thank you to Caroline Tabah for the wonderful photos!

Cycles Review in The WholeNote

Today I was really happy to learn that Cycles got a glowing review from Andrew Timar in Toronto's The Wholenote. Click here to read the review.

As always, Cycles is available for purchase here, and is also downloadable via iTunes.

Newly Redesigned Website!

Over the past couple of months, I have been working hard to redesign my new website. It has been a number of years since I have really done anything with my website, and it was in real need of an overhaul. The new design is much cleaner, and there is quite a lot of new content. Please enjoy exploring the new site, and let me know what you think!

Interview on ArtsAvenue.ca blog

Last week, I did an interview with the kind folks at ArtsAvenue.ca. We talked about my early beginnings, inspirations, current projects and goals. They also asked if I had any words of advice for other artists out there. Click here to read the interview.