Date: September 23, 2011
Venue: Baruch College’s Performance Space (NY)
Concert review by Jim Hoey
This recent night of Indian-American music at Baruch College’s performance space, on Sept. 23rd, is another example of great local talent reaching forward into new territory, and simultaneously upholding the traditional apects of Hindi-inspired Bollywood soundtracks. Two bands, Ravish Momin’s Tarana, and Sameer Gupta’s Namasker, took two different approaches, drawing from the same traditions.
It was incredible to hear Momin on drums in Tarana, with the exquisite accompaniment of Trina Basu on violin, mixing live percussion with trademark electronics. They slowly built up a loose framework for the extensive and soulful improvisations, playing most of the 4 new tracks on the new EP After the Disquiet. The achievement of Tarana is that with even the most traditional of folk-Hindi rhythms as a point of departure, their songs can take subtle turns down different paths to a more Middle-Eastern or Asian sound, then more modern, and can often switch mid-piece without any jarring or noticeable transition point.
In Namaskar, Sammeer Gupta on traps led the group through jazz interpretations of Indian classics, and originals of course. With the amazing Marc Cary blazing through improvisations on piano, (including a solo performance of Coltrane’s Naima played as a tribute to Gupta’s 3-month old baby girl of the same name), Namaskar was able to reach the fine line of presenting Indian themes in a jazz style. Aiding this was Neel Murgai on sitar, Rashaan Carter on electric bass, and Arun Ramammurthy on violin.
Gupta and his cohorts masterfully raised the tension for the harder and faster selections, and deftly tamed it down, and even reached over to the tablas nearby, for the softer and more distinctly Hindu inspired songs, including a cover of Bollywood composer Naushad Ali, which had the crowd singing along and swaying in their seats. This crowd stayed on through 2 encores, despite the rainy weather outside, and presenter Sangeet Sabhha graciously had both bands return to the stage together to say a few words about peace music, and the strength of their traditions.
Check below for our interview with both Trina Basu and Ravish Momin of Tarana.
Check here also out Ravish Momin’s interview!
