Trichy Sankaran - a week of magic.

I've just finished a week of rehearsing, recording and performing with Trichy Sankaran and the Offering of Curtis Andrews.  Curtis has been Sankaran's disciple for over twenty years and did all the work organizing the visit, grant writing (thanks Canada Council!) logistics as well as writing some music.  Sankaran Sir was also commissioned to write a piece for the occasion "Chapu Tala Malika", a piece that turned out to be as difficult as it is beautiful in its rhythmic architecture.  The piece was constructed around a 24 beat cycle of chapu talas in 3, 5, 7, and 9.

To spend time playing with and learning from Sanakarn Sir was truly a privilege.  I feel like my rhythmic understanding and ability has grown exponentially as a result. His musical precision, gorgeous drum tones, deep laya (time feel or groove), improvisational prowess, and excellent jokes made for an enlightening and uplifting ten days. The experience was surely one of the top musical highlights of my career thus far.

Curtis, Dave Spidel, Robin Layne, Vidyasagar Vankayala, and Kaushik Sivaramakrishnan were dream band-mates throughout.

Pictures courtesy of Kaushik.