Live looping sighting

["Paolo Valladolid" <phv40@hotmail.com>]

I just got back from a concert featuring:

Hariprasad Chauraisa - bansuri (Indian bamboo flute)
Egberto Gismonti - piano, 10- and 14-string guitars
Vijay Ghate - tabla
Siva Mani - assorted percussion

First up was the trio of Chauraisa, Ghate, and Mani performing Indian 
classical music.  Chauraisa chose a raag that is common to both North and 
South Indian traditions, with Ghate coming from the North and Mani from 
the 
South.  Mani's setup looks a lot like Trilok Gurtu's and uses a lot of the 
same instruments that Gurtu is known for (Gurtu's snare drum designed to 
sit 
on the floor, Gurtu's tom set mounted in a somewhat triangular frame, 
Gurtu's spring drums for sound effects, a bucket of water for dipping a 
gong, etc).  It could be that like Gurtu, he prefers to play sitting on a 
rug instead of on a drum throne.  However, he also uses other percussion 
instruments such as a monstrous bass drum and an udu.  I don't know much 
about his background, but I got the impression he has training in Indian 
classical music - he was always right in sync with Ghate and Chauraisa 
even 
through all the precisely timed stops and starts and intricate rhythms 
that 
Indian classical is known for.  He made his unique array of instruments 
fit 
into the classical context.

Then Gismonti did a solo set.

Then the four played together.  They were really having a lot of fun, 
which 
showed in the interplay, particularly with lots of call-response between 
bansuri and piano and between tabla and multi-percussion.

Now for the looping part.  Towards the end of the show, Mani was given the 
green light to cut loose with an impresive display of humor-laced 
theatrics 
and sheer virtuosic musicianship.  There were several places during his 
solo 
that he looped a phrase and played on top of it.

I understand these guys are touring.  They're definitely worth seeing live.

Paolo
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at 
http://profiles.msn.com.