Toronto Tabla Ensemble – For the Love of Tabla (Toronto Tabla Ensemble, 2022)
“For the Love of Tabla” is a superb album that puts the Indian tabla in the driver’s seat. “Normally the tabla gets lost or buried under all the other instruments in a song,” illuminates the Toronto Tabla Ensemble’s founder, artistic director and tabla player Ritesh Das. “For this album I mixed each track to bring the tabla up so you can hear it prominently within all the other sounds. Exploring the theme of love is a new concept for the Toronto Tabla Ensemble, so we collaborated with guest artists from Canada and around the world to create songs that embody the feeling of love and devotion. For The Love Of Tabla is about love for the instrument, the music, for another human being, for the earth and nature. With this album we hope to spread a little love all around.”
Ritesh Das and his colleagues deliver a wide range of styles and genres that makes this album highly entertaining. Das brought together a fantastic cast of musicians who engage with the multiple tabla sets performed by the three members of the Toronto Tabla Ensemble.
Naturally, you will find plenty of captivating Indian rooted music in the form of rhythms, melodies, and musical instruments. Percussion-wise, in addition to the solo and ensemble tabla components, the Toronto Tabla Ensemble also uses the always-fascinating konakol vocal percussion style, presenting fascinating polyrhythm techniques.
Notably, the ensemble ventures into other musical influences and cultures. For example, on the joyful ‘Jovano Jovanke’, a traditional Eastern European love song, Ritesh Das invited violinist and composer Miamon Mille and his Free Range Organic Ensemble . “It’s a very interesting piece,” says Das. “The rhythm is very simple, but it’s very challenging because it keeps shifting. You think it’s going to be one thing, but it turns out to be something else.”
“This is one of the most unique albums I have produced, during this strange time in the world,” Das acknowledges. “But I think the members and the performers took advantage of the situation and turned it into something positive.”
The Toronto Tabla Ensemble temporarily takes a temporary detour from world music on the lively rock song Prayer For The Mother, a collaboration with vocalist Bif Naked (Beth Torbert), a popular artist in Canada. “Because of my history with rock ’n’ roll, I always wanted to compose a piece where tabla plays a main role,” says Das. “Prayer for the Mother had a strong sense of female power and the theme of ‘mother’ for me. And when Bif Naked came up with those powerful lyrics, I wanted to add taiko drums, to add that deep sound of the earth. That’s when my longtime friend and collaborator for over 30 years Kiyoshi Nagata came in.”
The taiko drums also appear on “Taiko Crush” where you will hear a wonderful explosion of drums, where Indian tablas meet and jam with Japanese taiko drums performed by Kiyoshi Nagata.
The tablas dance with Flamenco from Spain on “Burning Sky”, a piece featuring Flamenco guitar.
Lastly, the Toronto Tabla Ensemble displays Canadian pride on the last piece, an Indian-seasoned version of “O Canada”, the national anthem of Canada.
The Toronto Tabla Ensemble includes Ritesh Das, Razak Pirani, and Shamir Panchal. The rest of the lineup includes Dale Anne Brendon on drum set; Alysha Addetia on flute; Dusty Chesterfield on bass; Kiyoshi Nagata on taiko drums and atarigane (gong); Azim Keshavjee on Flamenco guitar; Raaginder Singh Momi on violin; Dallas Smith on flute; Labonee Mohanta on vocals; Sougata Roy Chowdhury on sarod; George Koller on sitar; Donald Quan on yang qin; and Gary Honess on piano.
Miamon Miller’s Free Range Organic Ensemble featuring Miamon Miller on violin; Michele Simon on vocals and dumbek; Michael Lawson on accordion and vocals; Janie Cowan on upright bass; and Bill Cope on tambura.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.