The Return of the Attar Project

You may have noticed that since the release of The Road Ahead, and a few launch concerts in the Toronto area, the Attar Project has unfortunately been somewhat quiet. Parmela (Attariwala; violinist) was completing work on her PhD, and so had limited time available for performing. Now that she has completed her PhD (congrats!), we're back in action! Last Wednesday, we performed a concert of Canadian works for violin and tabla at the Espace Cercle Carré in Old Montreal.

First on the program was Paul Frehner's Oracle, composed for violin with congas and bongos, which I'm not sure the piece has actually ever been played on! When I first heard the piece premiered by violinist Nadia Francavilla, with D'Arcy Gray on percussion, D'Arcy played the piece on frame drum. That's what gave me the idea that the piece might work well on tabla, and it does! It's a high energy, technically difficult piece (especially the violin part), which works really nicely as an overture of sorts.

Next was Meiro Stamm's The Melody of Rhythm. This piece combines aspects of Mozart's style, with North Indian tabla drumming vocabulary. Yes; Mozart and tabla! The multi-movement work presents variations on the principal theme, through varying time signatures - 2, 3, 5, and 7. We then followed this with Nicole Rampersaud's The Road Ahead... which is principally improvised, via conceptual instructions and fixed structure with certain melodic and harmonic motives being specified by the composer.

We ended the first half with Christien Ledroit's Never the Twain Shall Meet, for violin, tabla, and fixed media (pre-recorded electronics). The composer's alter-ego as a punk guitarist is certainly evident in this piece, as kaida-palta in Jhaptaal are accompanied by distorted guitars and other processed sounds. A nice way to end the first half with a bang! Coincidentally, all the pieces in the first part appear on our CD, The Road Ahead.

Parmela opened the second half with her solo dance piece, Frank, in which she dances while playing the violin, accompanied by a very subtle, eerie backing track of bowed temple bowls and crotales. Her movements are slow and deliberate, swaying back and forth like a blade of grass.

I then followed with a short tabla solo in Teentaal, perhaps around 10 minutes long. I opened with uthaan, and played a famous Benarsi bant through subdivisions of 4-5-6-7-8, and then into a rela. I concluded with a few of my favourite tukras. I'm definitely looking forward to playing a more extended solo, hopefully some time soon!

We ended the concert with the now classic LA, by Robert Rosen. Fortunately for us, Robert now lives in Ottawa, and so was able to attend the concert. It's always a pleasure to have one of the composers in the audience, and especially one so enthusiastic about our performance of his music! 

Looking forward to the next concert!

Thanks to Caroline for the photos!

Ragleela at Festival Classica

Today, Ragleela performed at the St. Lambert United Church as part of the Festival Classica. It was great fun to be back performing with the group as a full quintet.

Ragleela at St. Lambert United Church, Festival Classica

Having a good time!

Uwe pulled out his sansa for Sansonica.

Ragleela is Uwe Neumann on sitar, Jean-Marc Hébert on guitar, Marie-Soleil Bélanger on violin, Eric Breton on percussion, and me on tabla.

Thanks to Caroline Tabah for the photos!

Touring with Ragleela

In mid-August, I had the pleasure of touring with the Indian-fusion group, Ragleela. During the past seven years, I have performed on-and-off with this group as needed. I was delighted when the called me to go on a small Eastern-Canada tour with them. The group is led by sitarist Uwe Neumann, accompanied by guitarist Jean-Marc Hébert, violinist Marie-Soleil Belanger, percussionist Eric Breton, with myself on tabla.

First stop on the tour was a 5am (!) sunrise performance at the beautiful Parc Forillon in Gaspé, which is right at the eastmost tip of the province of Quebec. The festival was aptly named Festival Musique du bout du monde (edge of the world). It was quite something, leaving the hotel at 3:30am for a 4am sound check. We weren't sure how many people would show up for such an early performance. As we did the sound check, people slowly trickled onto the site, and by the time we were performing, an estimated 250 people were in attendance! wow!

Needless to say, the scenery was just amazing, and the vibe of a sunrise performance is quite unique. Luckily, someone also posted a short video!

We then went on to perform again on Gaspé's main street later that afternoon.

Special thanks to the Festival Musique du Bout du Monde for the incredible photos of our performance.

We then continued on to perform at DANSpace in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I unfortunately don't have any photos of this performance. Next, we embarked on a long drive across Prince Edward Island, and took the five-hour ferry to the Iles-de-la-Madeleine. Amazing scenery all around; I definitely need to get back there when I have the chance. We performed for two nights at the Vieux Treuil. (NB: The soundman there is incredible!!!)

Overall, an amazing tour. I am now a full member of Ragleela, and am looking forward to many more performances in the years to come! :)

Attar Project CD Launch

The last week of February was a busy time for me. 4 concerts and 2 workshops in four days! These activities were centered around the launch of the Attar Project's third CD, The Road Ahead.

The Attar Project is the project of violinist Parmela Attariwala. "Initially conceived as a vehicle to integrate the eclectic strands of Attariwala’s own musical background, the Attar Project engages artists across musical genres and artistic practices in virtuosic collaborations that maintain the essence of each while challenging the boundaries between them. Neither a fixed ensemble nor an “ad hoc” one, the Attar Project has unfolded as a series of dedicated partnerships, resulting in a body of work that, while beyond common definition, unfailingly awakens the eye and ear." This album features new music for violin and tabla by Canadian composers.

the Attar Project - The Road Ahead

Parmela Attariwala, violin and viola

Shawn Mativetsky, tabla and percussion

Oracle, by Paul Frehner

Sudoku, by Andrew Staniland

The Road Ahead... is Longer than the Trail Left Behind, by Nicole Rampersaud

The Melody of Rhythm, by Meiro Stamm

Never the Twain Shall Meet, by Christien Ledroit

The first of the CD launch activities took place at the Musideum in Toronto on February 24. This is a music / instrument store with an eclectic collection of instruments on display and for sale. A really fascinating place! They had a wide array of percussion, string instruments, winds, and electronic instruments from around the world. They even had an old glass harmonica on display. We performed a few selections from the new CD to a small, but appreciative audience.

Performing at the Musideum, Toronto.

Chatting with composer Meiro Stamm.

The Attar Project at the Musideum.

The next day, February 25, Parmela and I were on a train to London (Ontario) to give workshops at the University of Western Ontario. I gave a tabla workshop for the percussion students, and another for the composition students, while Parmela gave a workshop on improvisation. The next day, we performed for the UWO noon-hour concert series. Many thanks to composer Paul Frehner for inviting us. It was a great couple of days. I only wish that I had more time to stay and see more of "the other" London.

A couple of hours later, we were back on a train for another performance that same evening at Toronto's C'est What. C'est What is not our usual type of venue - it's a microbrewery pub. But, they have a music series and are trying to branch out into other, more adventurous styles of music. It was fun to be able to watch the Olympic women's gold medal curling match (though Canada lost, and got silver) just before the performance.

Performing at C'est What, Toronto.

The last of the Toronto CD launch concerts was at the Tranzac. I hadn't heard of this place before, but it seems to be a big part of the local music scene. They have a few rooms, booked all day long, with musical performances representing practically every genre imaginable. We played in a smaller room, up close and personal with the audience. We got a really enthusiastic response! Maybe it was the Tranzac vibe, or the fact that the Tranzac audiences are very open in their musical tastes.

Performing at the Tranzac, Toronto.

In all of the performances, we played selections from the new CD, plus Robert Rosen's now classic LA, and a tabla solo in rupak taal (7 beats). I have typically chosen to perform tabla solo in teentaal (16 beats), but I decided that it was time for a change! I'm really liking the feel of rupak for solos, and will surely continue to explore this further.

All in all, a great week, and a great way to launch the new CD! The CD should soon be available on CDBaby, iTunes, etc. It's also available directly from Parmela or myself, and independent music stores in Toronto.