TABLA BEAT SCIENCE

The North Indian drums know as the tabla were said to have been invented in the 13th century by Amir Khusrau, a disciple of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizemuddin Aluya. At the time, Khusrau sawed a pakhawaj (a single two-headed wooden drum) in two. Though no one may never know exactly why Khusrau felt it necessary it to saw a pakhawaj in half, his act gave birth to the tabla. Since that time, the tabla have been conceived to accompany vocalists and such instruments as the sitar (a multi-stringed lute), bin (a seven-stringed tube zither), venu (a side-blown cane flute), saord (a lute with a parchment soundboard and metal frets), and the sarangi (bowed lute).

The late Ustad Alla Rakha, who played for many years with Ravi Shankar, is widely credited with having expanded the repertoire and the role of the tabla. Thanks in great part to his ingenuity and determination, today the tabla is no longer considered to be merely an accompanying instrument. In honor of his impressive contributions to the world of tabla, the musical consortium known as Tabla Beat Science has dedicated their debut CD, Tabla Matrix, to the memory of Ustad Alla Rakha. By asking some of the most highly regarded tabla players in the world to play with a variety of musicians and programmers, producer and bassist Bill Laswell has essentially appropriated the ancient tradition of the tabla and fused it with contemporary electronica studio wizardry. Tabla Beat Science is comprised of Ustad Alla Rakha's son and tabla superman Zakir Hussain, venerated sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan, Indian and jazz percussion innovator Trilok Gurtu, New York drummer Karsh Kale, bass and drum visionary Talvin Singh, music programmer Brad Somatik, and producer/bassist Bill Laswell. An innovative and creative union of musicians, Tabla Beat Science pushes the envelope of traditional tabla playing and, perhaps more importantly, breathes fresh air into electronica by introducing traditional acoustic virtuosity into the mix. The collective recorded an August 2001 performance and released it as the double-disc Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove album in 2002.
AMG

Review

by John Vallier

With their debut CD Tala Matrix, the project known as Tabla Beat Science has essentially taken the rich and time-honored tradition of the tabla (a pair of North Indian hand drums) and fused it with contemporary electronica studio wizardry. Tala Matrix is dedicated to the memory of the late, great, and innovative tabla virtuoso Ustad Alla Rakha (1919-2000). The Tabla Beat Science project is comprised of one of Ustad Alla Rakha's sons, the tabla superman Zakir Hussain. Additional members include the venerated sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan; Indian and jazz percussion innovator Trilok Gurtu; New York drummer Karsh Kale; bass, drum, and tabla visionary Talvin Singh; and music programmer Brad Somatik. Producer/bassist Bill Laswell, who "conceived and constructed" the CD, acts as the catalyst for the outfit, adding the bottom end with his dub basslines and the overall aesthetic with his studio prowess. More of a consortium than a full-blown collaboration, not one of the songs on Tabla Matrix features all members of the group. Zakir Hussain's many tracks are among the best on the album, though Trilok Gurtu's funky Big Brother and Talvin Singh's Don't Worry.Com are both extremely compelling. The often zombie-ridden doldrums of electronica should benefit immensely from this experimental union with tabla. An excellent CD that deserves to be heard many times by many people, Tala Matrix manages to be innovative without loosing sight of tradition.

AMG








BAJAR ACÁ















Imagine you were having a dinner party and invited six or seven of your closest friends, each of whom is considered a master in their respective field. Let's say that throughout the night you introduced topics of conversation you knew would be of mutual interest to everyone, and you recorded the interchanges between these great minds for posterity's sake. No offense, but the results couldn't possibly be any more intriguing than this two-CD set, which is essentially the result of just such an experiment. Only in this case, the host is legendary bassist/mega-producer Bill Laswell, his friends rank among the world's greatest musicians, and the dialogue comes in the form of largely improvised cross-cultural collaborations between them. Don't let "Taaruf," the transcendent opening epic featuring tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and vocalist/sarangi master Ustad Sultan Khan, scare you: though the song's 16-minute length might put off those with short attention spans, it's an excellent appetizer for the stylistic smorgasbord that awaits. The following track, "Sacred Channel," adds Karsh Kale's jazz-rock drumming and Laswell's dub-influenced basslines to the mix, while "Nafekefi" features dynamic vocalist Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw. By the end of the first CD, turntablist DJ Disk and electronic experimentalists MIDIval PunditZ and Fabian Alsultany have entered the fray, and the songs have covered ground ranging from Indian classical and Ethiopian pop to funk, hip-hop, and drum'n'bass. It's an eclectic sound, to be sure, but if genre-defying, boundary-breaking music is your bag, Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove does it better than any live album since Miles Davis' electric period.
AMG




BAJAR ACÁ