Tabla Beat Science

In the thirteenth century, Amir Khusrau, a follower of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizemuddin Aluya, is said to have created the North Indian drums known as the tabla. He did so by cutting a pakhawaj, defined as a single two-headed wooden drum, into a pair of halves. No one can say with certainty what prompted this division, yet the action gave rise to the tabla itself. Ever since, the instrument has been designed to support vocalists as well as the sitar, a multi-stringed lute, the bin, a seven-stringed tube zither, the venu, a side-blown cane flute, the saord, a lute with a parchment soundboard and metal frets, and the sarangi, a bowed lute.

Widely recognized for enlarging both the repertoire and the function of the tabla is the late Ustad Alla Rakha, who performed alongside Ravi Shankar for many years. Largely through his resourcefulness and persistence the tabla ceased to be viewed as nothing more than an accompanying instrument. In tribute to those achievements, the musical consortium Tabla Beat Science devoted its debut release, Tabla Matrix, to Ustad Alla Rakha’s memory. By inviting some of the most respected tabla players to join forces with various musicians and programmers, producer and bassist Bill Laswell took the ancient tabla tradition and merged it with present-day electronica studio techniques.

Tabla Beat Science consists of Zakir Hussain, Ustad Alla Rakha’s son and tabla superman, venerated sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan, Indian and jazz percussion innovator Trilok Gurtu, New York drummer Karsh Kale, bass and drum visionary Talvin Singh, music programmer Brad Somatik, and producer/bassist Bill Laswell. This inventive alliance extends the limits of conventional tabla playing while, perhaps even more significantly, infusing electronica with traditional acoustic virtuosity. The collective captured an August 2001 concert and issued the recording in 2002 as the double-disc album Live in San Francisco at Stern Grove.