The second night of the festival started off with a traditional tabla concert. Ravi Naimpally, a master of the tablas, was accompanied by Jonathan Kay on the Harmonium (a small keyboard powered by a manually operated bellows) and Ernie Tollar on the clarinet. The universe of Indian music is new and fresh to me and I really enjoyed the performance. Kay and Tollar were very much accompanists, the majority of what they played was simply going up and down the raga or scale in unison. Naimpally was very much in the starring role. Occasionally Naimpally would grab the microphone and count out the beats or say the syllables of the rhythm. Occasionally, Kay and Tollar would break up their line, even moving into a moment of melodic counterpoint at the end of the piece. It was interesting to hear not only the layer upon layer of rhythmic figures Naimpally has mastered but also the amount of tonal variety he is able to coax from two small drums. Even in the first set in this traditional context it was obvious that Naimpally has a comprehensive understanding of many types of music. Spontaneously, he came upon a 4/6 polyrhythm, the base of much of Africa and Cuba’s music, and later seemed to conjure up a Brazilian Bateria with the sound of dueling surdos coming out of his larger tabla.

The second set was played by Toronto’s own Tasa. I say Toronto’s own as this group truly is representative of this city’s diverse nature. The group is lead by Naimpally and obviously is inspired and informed by traditional Indian music, but that is just one ingredient in a complex recipe. Ernie Tollar was back for the second set, this time spending most of his time on soprano sax and numerous flutes. He sounded very much in his element with Tasa and very comfortable playing various wooden flutes, an obscure instrument to double on. After Tollar, Allan Hetherington seemed to grab the audience’s attention. He played the drum set with authority and control but also added some very nice touches with extensive use of hand percussion. He even played whole tunes on pandeiro, really changing the vibe of the band in beautiful way. It was interesting to see Samidha Joglekar sitting at the back of the stage. She controlled the shruti box and sang beautifully intermittently throughout the set. Joglekar certainly didn’t steal the spotlight, instead adding the colour of her voice very effectively in small doses, sort of like the ensemble’s secret weapon.