Tabla Solo concert, Aug 21st, Toronto & update

Concert announcement and update on recordings:

I loves me some retro technical illustrations...

I will be performing a tabla solo on Tuesday, August 21st at Musideum in Toronto, accompanied by the awesome Rattan Bhamrah on esraj. Here's the facebook event, and here is a preview for my last solo concert:

The tabla is by far the most hypnotic, and expressive percussion instrument you will ever witness live. The term "tabla" actually refers to a set of two drums, one tuned higher, called the 'daina' that is actually tuned to a note that is related in some way to the raga being performed, and a lower pitched drum called the 'dagga'. The complex patterns and phrases played routinely on the tabla are mind-boggling! Try counting along if you dare... Hanley will be joined by Rattan Bhamrah, who will play the esraj, an Indian stringed instrument that is played with a bow. Bhamrah will likely be present largely to play a "lehera" for Hanley: this is a repeated phrase associated with a raga that is essentially 'looped', in order to serve as a stable 'marker' to be juxtaposed with the pyrotechnics delivered by the tabla player.

Jhaptal will be on the menu, including material from Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri and Sri Subhajyoti Guha...peshkar, kaida, rela, paran, thukra and chakradar.

Hopefully, I will get video of the entire concert, so stay tuned!

Recording update:

I have four tracks in progress, and will post as soon as I can get time to record the accompanists and finish the mixes. A tintal peshkar/kaida/rela, tintal kaida-rela and  jhaptal kaida from Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, and a solo in Chartal Ki Sawari (11 beats) incl. kaida, gat, paran and thukra from Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.

What I've been up to:

It's been an interesting year so far: I played a tabla solo in January; premiered a Tabla Concerto composed by Dinuk Wijeratne with Symphony Nova Scotia in February (the CBC recorded the concert, and I'll post a link once the on-demand recording is up), review: 'Ed Hanley is a remarkable player, both in his musical thoughtfulness and his technical virtuosity.'; played a bunch of gigs with my band Autorickshaw, incl. trio, quartet and sextet concerts, plus our 70s Bollywood show; played a few gigs with banjo player Jayme Stone; recorded with vocalist Lenka Lichtenberg; toured with devotional ensemble Aradhna; did a couple weeks of school workshops with grade 6-8 students at 2 different schools; a Brazilan-Indian collaboration gig called Bombay Brazil (video); a couple gigs with choirs, including one at Toronto's Massey Hall (always dreamed of playing Massey Hall! w00t!); and finally, completed work on Persian percussionist Naghmeh Farahmand's solo album, which I produced, recorded, edited and mixed.

until next time,
tata!