Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove [Live]

Amazon.com
What do you get when you mix tablas and turntables? One answer is Tabla Beat Science. This double-CD live effort proves that Indian classical and modern electronic-based music can cohabitate, particularly when the talented likes of tabla great Zakir Hussain and sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan (both exponents of Indian classical music) combine with bassist Bill Laswell, drummer Karsh Kale (both involved in modern world music fusions), and several other guests. Laswell is an expert at organizing these kinds of musical mash-ups, but he's done something special here: his dubby bass lines sound great next to hyperpercussive tabla beats, and the voices of Khan and rising Ethiopian siren Gigi meld together particularly well on such tracks as "Nafeken" and "Mengedege." The tunes here are more jam-oriented than on the group's studio album Tala Matrix, but this only further illuminates the trancelike quality that brings these different schools together. Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove is a prime example of what can be accomplished with an open mind and formidable musical skills. --Tad Hendrickson

Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove,Tabla Beat Science,Palm Pictures (Audio,Electronica,India,Indian,Int'l & World Music,Jungle/Drum'n'bass,Pop,Sufi,Trance,World Music,Worldbeat

Average customer rating:

East meets West dance party

the big jam session

Frightfully disappointing

Nice fusion

Genre b(l)ending monster live set.

Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove
Tabla Beat Science
Manufacturer: Palm Pictures (Audio
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
India | India & Pakistan | International | Styles | Music
General | International | Styles | Music
General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Tala Matrix

Talamanam Sound Clash: Further Adventures in Hypercussion

Essence of Rhythm

Liberation

Shri Durga

ASIN: B000069B11
Release Date: 2002-07-09

Tracks:

Taaruf
Sacred Channel
Nafeken
Ap Ke Baras
Magnetic Dub

Tracks:

Satellite (Show Me The Worth Of The World)
Tala Matrix
Trajic
Mengedegna
Devotional Dub

Amazon.com

What do you get when you mix tablas and turntables? One answer is Tabla Beat Science. This double-CD live effort proves that Indian classical and modern electronic-based music can cohabitate, particularly when the talented likes of tabla great Zakir Hussain and sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan (both exponents of Indian classical music) combine with bassist Bill Laswell, drummer Karsh Kale (both involved in modern world music fusions), and several other guests. Laswell is an expert at organizing these kinds of musical mash-ups, but he's done something special here: his dubby bass lines sound great next to hyperpercussive tabla beats, and the voices of Khan and rising Ethiopian siren Gigi meld together particularly well on such tracks as "Nafeken" and "Mengedege." The tunes here are more jam-oriented than on the group's studio album Tala Matrix, but this only further illuminates the trancelike quality that brings these different schools together. Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove is a prime example of what can be accomplished with an open mind and formidable musical skills. --Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews:

East meets West dance party.......2007-02-14

As far as live discs goes,well, this is pretty lively. The interchange and interaction between musicians is very intense, sometimes to the point of a frenzy. This disc is probably not for everyone but if you have a penchant for Indian music that has a modified electronic groove, then get on board. The mixture of sitar, tablas,exotic voice, electronica and thumping bass lines, coupled with a wild DJ spinning some crazy beatz results in a CD that is idiosyncratic. In other words you are unlikely to hear something quite like this. The songs are extended jams that require a free mindset to this type of fusion, that is part jazz improvisation , part dance groove, part meditative spiritual bliss and pure out of this world music. For example, "Taaruf" comes in at a whoping 16:07, begins mellow and slowly escalates into frentic beatz than cascades back into a spiritual nirvana and back into feverish beatz driven by the tablas. The whole two disc set comes across as some sort of experimental fusion that is well received either because of everyone being in awe of the musicianship or the strange blend of fusion. I like this jam session overall but find I can only take it in parts not the two discs back to back. I guess you had to be there. If you like experimental electronic grooves mixed with Indian instruments than you will probably like this spacey disc. Pretty wild but good stuff for your collection or to throw into your next party. You definitely will get the what is that?

the big jam session.......2006-06-05

I was lucky enough to be part of this recording and the rehearsals leading up to it. Reviewers who bemoan the lack of melody at this performance have a legitimate complaint. But this is due to the totally new format these musicians were working under. If you pull together a band of virtuoso jazz musicians who have never played live together before, they will speak a common language of standards and form (head, solos, head, done) that will allow them to work as unit playing melodic tunes. The repertoire is deep and the shared knowledge is broad. Not so here, these guys are making it up as they go, they are blazing the trail and it's obvious.

That is not to say that there is nothing here, there is. These are amazing musicians engaged in a long improvisation of texture and rhythm. I tend to think of it as watching the surf. To some, it may seem monotonous, but to me, each wave is different and the overall effect is hypnotic.

The audience ate it all up. 10,000 people on their feet and dancing to these world beats. I remember one moment in particular where the band had laid back and let Zakir take a solo, Zakir's solo was reaching a climax and Laswell jumped back in. He owns the frequency band below 80Hz and you could feel the concussive power of his bass in your gut, it passed through your body like you were made of jello and washed over the crowd which responded with an estactic release of mass joy. Amazing.

The day leading to concert was spent in a rehearsal hall, working out about 6 different songs. These weren't so much songs as structures for improv. We shared burritos from the Mission and had a few laughs. These guys were fun and total pros. It was an experience I won't forget.

Frightfully disappointing.......2006-02-25

I picked this CD up on a whim; the cover looked really cool (i mean come on- robotic shiva holding an MPC2000xl, pitchfork/sitar, a dhol, and spinning some vinyl?) I shelled out quite a pile of cash. (20 dollars) When I opened it to find 2 CD's, I was quite relieved. Must be a great live session, I thought. I love Ustad Sultan Khan, Zakir Hussain, Karsh Kale and Bill Laswell.

Apparently, not altogether.

The CD was disappointing at best. As an earlier reviewer said, there were absolutely no real melodies. What you get, instead, is a series of common time taals (tin-taal) and some random sarangi riffs. Random improv singing, a few basic/uncomplex synth patches here and there, and a DJ engaging in a scratch battle with the tabla. That was the weirdest part. I'm all about spinning as an artform in itself, but it has to be integrated. The basslines were okay, but only lighly peppered throughout. Had kind of a moogy wah to them.

Now this isn't to say the artists aren't talented- clearly, this album demonstrates the opposite. They just haven't collaborated under a driving force. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Tabla Beat Science is really only the name for the collaboration under Bill Laswell. That would be my closest speculation for the lack of continuity and themes in the album.

How on earth did the audience (the "live" part of the CD) experience this concert? I wonder- did they hand out cartons of "fancy" cigarettes and lawn chairs and offer complimentary hats at the end? Was it part of a larger ensemble? Was it background music for an extended Quilting Circle?

Nice fusion.......2005-10-02

Zakir hussain, dj disk, midival punditz make a excellent fusion
between indian, hiphop and drum n bass sometimes.
It s a powerfull live we re having here !!
A nice mixe well completed.

Genre b(l)ending monster live set........2005-04-08

Tabla Beat Science was (is?) a unique collaboration-- a crossing of electronica and traditional Indian musics in a largely improvised fashion. If this sounds interesting to you, read on, otherwise you're more likely to be happy skipping this one.

From the first song, you'd have no idea this is anything other than a traditional Indian album, Ustad Sultan Khan's sarangi soars over tabla performance from Zakir Hussain (and maybe Karsh Kale as well?), its a very traditional setting-- the playing is fantastic, but its nothing out of the ordinary for over fifteen minutes. Then something changes. Kale sits at a western drum kit, kicks in a monster beat and is joined with a dub-ish baseline courtesy of Bill Laswell. Electronic sounds and rhythms highlight the music (courtesy of DJ Disk, MIDIval PunditZ, and Fabian Alsultany).

The album really continues along this trend-- the music is engaging, gripping, powerful, and well conceived, and the musicians are very clearly having a blast playing it. It drifts in and out of traditional musics of various forms, but never quite settles on anything except being very heavily groove oriented, even when Laswell assumes a more esoteric stance. Occasionally vocals (courtesy of Khan and Gigi Shibabaw) join the fray, and it sounds to my ears like musicians come and go during different pieces. The emphasis for the most part is on the tabla, and Hussain delivers the goods like no one can.

I actually find the second disc far more engaging than the first, it includes a great vocal piece and an all out turntable/tabla war that is not to be missed. It may seem gimmicky to some, but try to avoid stereotypes and expectations about the turntable-- take it as a percussion instrument and you're bound to be intrigued. I really can't say enough good things about this record, my only regret is that i never got to see this band live.

Album Review:

Album Review

album review

Album Review

2 Sides of the Four Pennies/Mixed Bag

Feidman Plays Mozart & More [Import]

Great Composers at the Keyboard: Prokofiev, Casella, Enescu

Music: Midsummer Moon

Ether Way: BBC Sessions 1975-77 [Live]

I Remember Blind Joe Death

Doing Our Job [Live]

Englische Virginalisten

The Kendalls: 16 Greatest Hits