Blowing in the wind
The Hindu : Five musicians from Canada held in thrall a small audience of about 150 people this Saturday. Catherine Potter, Bansuri player and disciple of Hariprasad Chaurasia, led the team of musicians comprising Bill Parsons on the guitar, Ravi Naimpally on the tabla, Thom Gossage on drums and Nicholas Caloia on the double-bass. One quaint instrument that few in the audience might have seen before—a little box called a kalimba—was used in one of the pieces performed. Its sounds mixed the timbre of string with the earthy quality of wood. Rattles and bells that seemed like dancer’s payals added to the range of sounds.The programme comprised, in the main, Potter’s own compositions. The Duniya Project has recently released an album in India, and is presently touring the country. The evening’s performance included Gori, a quick-paced, playful piece and Kutila, which includes a dialogue between drums and tabla. The repeated plucking of a single string on the double bass set off a deep, haunting reverberation.There were indications of musical influences from across the world—Balinese music and flamenco, energetic drumming and dialogue between the instruments, the mild-mannered tabla engaging with the powerful drums.The kalimba, an African instrument, was used largely to produce a short sequence of sounds repeated several times over—shut your eyes, and you see a merry caravan of camels swaying across the dunes. The East West Encounter 2008 is on at the Alliance Francaise until February 24. It is a site also for east-east encounters and west-west exchanges. In the audience on Saturday, to witness the Duniya Project from Canada, were the performers of the next day’s concert, the Galatea quartet from Switzerland.Brought to lifeGalatea is a name drawn from Greek mythology. The sculptor Pygmalion made a beautiful woman’s statue in ivory. So beautiful, he fell in love with it and pleaded with goddess Aphrodite to bring it to life. His pleas are heard, and he is…More
