Toronto Tabla Ensemble Welcome Unexpected Guests in a documentary called: “The Least Expected Guest”
A wide variety of artists gets together as Unexpected Guests for a joint project.
Then, before they can show the result, a Least Expected Guest arrives and changes their world.
Supported by Toronto Arts Council
Across the release’s seven tracks, the JUNO Award-nominated artists — including TTE founder Ritesh Das, winner of the Roy Thomson Hall Award — weave a variety of instruments, from percussion to bagpipe, piano to taiko, sarod to flute, and more, with their signature sound rooted by the traditional tabla.
“This album is a simple one,” states Das, the 62-year-old tabla virtuoso, composer and educator who leads the groundbreaking ensemble. “Most of the tracks are in very straightforward 4/4 grooves. On our other albums, you had tracks with different time signatures that made it really intellectual and complicated.
“I wanted this one to be something that anyone can sit back and listen to and enjoy.”
And he means anyone.
Along with delivering the most approachable songs in their vast repertoire, Unexpected Guests is their latest in a series of boldly collaborative and sonically expansive works. In keeping with its eye-opener title, the immersive and diverse album finds Das and the TTE hosting a party of musical visitors: Enter The Haggis bagpipe player Craig Downie, Japanese Taiko Ensemble Nagata Shachu, bassist and multi-instrumentalist George Koller, violinist Raaginder Singh Momi, flautist Alysha Addetia and more.
If that’s not what you expect from Indian music, well, that’s no accident either. “I don’t do traditional Indian music,” Das explains. “What I do is take the essence of it — the songs and sounds of North Indian classical music — and I blend it with other styles. To me, there’s no such thing as world music. Music is music.
“When I started the ensemble in 1991, I had three goals: First, I always wanted to bring the tabla into all kinds of music. Second, I wanted to use the tabla as an orchestra to create the same effect as a symphony. And third, I wanted to collaborate and make a statement that tabla could be played with any kind of instrument or any kind of form. Over the years, I’ve done everything from jazz to rock ’n’ roll.”
The method behind his madness? A mix of teamwork and sonic science. “You have to find guests in other cultures to collaborate and have them contribute and build something with that. You have to find the right frequency and you have to compose in a manner so that the instruments don’t fight each other. You also need an excellent sound engineer who understands that philosophy and can really separate it out and make each and every instrument shine, so a Scottish person can have a pint and a haggis and enjoy a song with bagpipes next to an Indian who’s enjoying the tabla.”
Unexpected Guests at Harbourfront Centre is the latest in live performances for the musical collective who have not only crossed Canada multiple times, but also mesmerized audiences in India and Australia with their intricate grooves and modern, high-energy approach.
They have released six original studio albums, including their JUNO Award-nominated 2000 album Firedance, and Global Music Award and Independent Music Award-winning 2018 release, Bhumika.
Das and the TTE teamed up with Tea Party frontman Jeff Martin for the 2007 concert DVD Live At The Enmore Theatre, and their compositions have been licensed for commercials, films, and as the theme music for CBC Radio’s daily Metro Morning.
It’s this collaborative approach and love of musical exchange that allows members and audiences to learn about other cultures and unites people at a time when our world has never been more divided. “By collaborating, you create awareness,” says Das. “And through awareness comes respect.”
Over the decades, the veteran teacher has continued to study his craft. The TTE has continued to grow to include a youth ensemble and film/video division led by Melissa Das-Arp in addition to the performing ensemble and tabla school. And with Unexpected Guests, he’s crafted an album that shares his musical vision and presents listeners with a vision of “inspiration, hope, encouragement, integrity and strength.” Throughout it all, however, Das has never lost sight of the simple pleasure that drew him to tabla half a century ago and continues to give him joy to this day: The instrument’s enigmatic, wondrous sound.
“I don’t know exactly what it is about that sound,” he admits. “And I don’t think I want to know. Because if I do know, I think I’ll die.”
Unexpected Guests is available June 19, 2020.
The Toronto Tabla Ensemble and their Unexpected Guests CD release concert is May 3, 2020 at Harbourfront Centre.
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