Elsiane at the Cabaret du Mile End

This past Saturday, September 7, I had the great pleasure of playing with one of my favourite bands, Elsiane, at the Cabaret du Mile End in Montreal. Elsiane is made up of Elsieanne Caplette, who is an amazingly talented singer and composer, and drummer Stephane Sotto, who has a super-solid groove, and loads of serious creativity in his playing. I highly recommend checking out their website, and having a listen to their two albums.

I was invited to be the opening act, and then later to play with the band as a guest musician. Other guests were violinist Stéphanie Caplette, oboist Annick Beauvais, and bassist Patrice Agbokou.

For the opening tabla set, I wanted to do something completely different from my usual tabla solos, and something that would fit with the Elsiane sound. Elsieanne generously composed two amazing backing tracks for my opening tabla set. The first was an elaborately textured drone, over which I played introductory materials, including Benarsi theka, followed by angrusthana. The second track had a drum groove in a medium 12-beat cycle, which I matched with an improvisation in Ektaal. This then transitioned into a duet with Stephane, which we had great fun in creating and in performing! We were eventually joined by Elsieanne and her quijada (a percussion instrument made of a donkey's jaw; the ancestor of the modern vibraslap), and began the Elsiane portion of the show with their song, Paranoia. I got a serious baya workout with the groove that we worked out for this tune, which has got to be one of my favourites that we collaborated on.

Tabla solo!

Elsieanne

Stephane 

Stéphanie, Annick, Elsieanne, Stephane, Shawn

I re-joined the band at different points in the set to play tabla on Distance, Underhelped, and In the Shadows. The tabla fits their music so well, so naturally. I'm sincerely looking forward to more collaborations with the band in the near future!

I was really impressed with how dedicated Elsieanne and Stephane are to their music, and the incredible team that they work with. Rob Heaney making everything sound so good, amazing lighting and stage design by Karine Gauthier, and also people helping out with hair and makeup (for those with hair, hahah!). When Elsiane puts on a show, it's not just a concert; it's an experience.

Thanks to Caroline for the photos!

The First Annual Montreal Yoga Music Festival

This past July 14, I had the pleasure of accompanying kirtan artist Lea Longo for the First Annual Montreal Yoga Music Festival, held at the Concordia Loyola campus. This festival was the first of its kind for Montreal, focused entirely on kirtan. The weekend was filled with nonstop kirtan from morning to evening, in addition to various workshops.

I have accompanied Lea a few times over the past couple of years, however for this special occasion, Lea expanded the group with a number of guest artists. In addition to guitarist Rad Crasto and myself on tabla, we were joined by Mandala Kirtan (based in Sherbrooke, QC) musicians Geneviève Grenier on harmonium and vocals and Marie-Josée Veilleux on guitar, tanpura, and vocals. We were also joined by Elsieanne Caplette, who is a fabulous singer with a really unique voice, which you can hear on her two albums with her band Elsiane. I have been a fan of Elsiane since the band's first album, so her participation was a welcome surprise for me.

The Chapel at Concordia Loyola

Rad and Shawn

Elsieanne and Lea

Elsieanne, Lea, and Geneviève

Shawn, Elsieanne and Lea

Lea Longo

The whole gang - Rad, Shawn, Elsieanne, Lea, Geneviève, and Marie-Josée

Lea's kirtan lasted around 90 minutes, which was quite a serious workout in the overwhelming summer heat of the day. Who knew that kirtan could be hot yoga as well? :) I really enjoyed accompanying this particular incarnation of the group, and I hope that Lea will be able to coordinate some other kirtans with this ensemble.

Thanks to Caroline Tabah for the photos!