Search - Tabla Beat Science :: Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove

The big jam session

Peter Palermo | Lebanon, IL | 06/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.

"

Laswell/Hussain Heaven!

sethjordan | Bungendore, NSW Australia | 06/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On the live front Laswell unleashes the touring version of his Indian rhythm-drenched collective, Tabla Beat Science, on this double CD recorded at San Francisco's long-running summer festival at Stern Grove park. While their debut 2000 studio incarnation Tala Matrix, which was billed as `adventures in electro-acoustic hypercussion', featured the quadraphonic tabla talents of Indian whiz Zakir Hussain, jazz-fusionist Trilok Gurtu, UK/Asian Underground producer/percussionist Talvin Singh and San Francisco beat-groover Karsh Kale, only Hussain and Kale are onboard for this live edition. But they're enough.Also present from the original lineup are classical Indian sarangi master/ vocalist Ustad Sultan Khan and Laswell himself on bass, with added guests; the alluring Ms. Gigi, Bay area turntable-ist DJ Disk, and New Delhi-based mixing duo MIDIval Pundits. Combined they're a formidable team. Zakir alone is worth the price of admission here. His calm demeanor belies the powerful rhythms that continually leap from his hands. A tabla player's tabla player, Hussain has an immaculate percussive pedigree (the gifted son of the late Alla Rakha, the longtime tabla partner of sitarist Ravi Shankar), with an almost unbelievable level of dexterous speed and skill at his disposal. Throw him together on `Sacred Channel' with Laswell's thundering underwater bassline and Kale's crisp kit drumming, and you create an explosive chemical reaction which can match virtually any power rock trio for rhythmic intensity.Gigi attempts to calm things down a bit from time to time, as on `Nafekefi', trading subtle Ethiopian/Indian vocals with Sultan Khan, but it's a lost cause, and da boys quickly start propelling the proceedings forward again, with sub-dub beats and blistering audio assaults. With tracks ranging from 5 to 15 minutes there's plenty of time for extended solos and semi-structured jamming. Khan's energetically bowed sarangi merges whining high-pitched Indian melodies with DJ Disk's turntable technology, while Laswell's rumbling bass shakes the heavens and the percussionists go ballistic. It's loud, multi-layered exciting stuff, which will be too full-on for some tastes, but just the ticket for any self-respecting Laswell/Hussain percussion fanatic. Approach with caution and fasten your seatbelts, but if you're rhythmically brave, then definitely seek out this live, high voltage set."

Manic world-beat dance-party brilliance.

spiral_mind | Pennsylvania | 02/02/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There's an inherent hazard in attempting anything under the vast umbrella of 'fusion.' Since the idea is to blend elements of separate styles or genres, it's important to strike a balance among the different sounds involved. I'll admit I'm no expert on the world of Indian techno out there, but I have to say that Tabla Beat Science meets that challenge perhaps more than anyone else I've heard. The earthy beats of the classic tabla (in the hands of the talented Karsh Kale and Zakir Hussain, no less) fit perfectly hand-in-hand with the ever-shifting samples and techno beats of the current century's dance-club sensibility. It's all about rhythm anyway, and if rhythm isn't universal I don't know what is.Group mastermind Bill Laswell stays in the steady role of central bassist, providing a solid foundation for everyone else to spin, groove and whirl over. The electronic touches (far from being mere loop programs) grow and modulate throughout, giving everything else an organic pulse that keeps it far away from the realm of droning repetition. The turntable aspect is handled by the inventive DJ Disk and the mad-sampling duo Midival PunditZ; in fact, just about everyone involved has a productive career in their own right, and the sum of the parts with everyone contributing is something mighty fascinating indeed. "Taaruf" starts things with a stealthily complex opening jam between - surprise - two tablas. It's during the semi-startling jump to "Sacred Channel" that the east-west fusion truly gets off the ground. Ustad Sultan Khan and Gigi drop in and out with some occasional spirited vocals, "Nafeken" and "Satellite" being two of the supremely stellar standouts (cool alliteration alert!) to my ears. There's not a whole lot of variety overall, but that seems to be the least of anyone's concerns. Disc 1 in itself is a vibrantly charged instrumental workout for all involved, but it's on the ... disc 2 where the freeform jam-happy side really comes out, reaching its peak of collective insanity in the closing "Devotional Dub." That one.. much like the whole album, really.. simply needs to be heard to be believed. Lesser percussionists would be left helplessly gasping in the dust.If I was to complain about anything on this release, it would be the minimum of actual melody on offer: though, it's not really surprising considering that the basis of this music begins and ends with rhythm. So (as you can probably guess) if you're looking for some well-composed tunes, you'd better look elsewhere. Tabla Beat Science is for those with a hyper pulse, a taste for thumping bass and a musical outlook beyond plain ordinary funk or techno.. or maybe just those with an open mind who want to shake some walls."