The Toronto Tabla Ensemble is ten years old, and with a new CD due out this year, they continue to be one of Toronto’s most dynamic groups. In the past decade, they’ve swelled from 3 to about 17 members, released two albums and an interactive CD-ROM, and played venues packed to capacity. Ironically, according to artistic director Ritesh Das, his focus is not on success, but on his lifelong study of the tabla and of the tabla nawaaz – his Self.

Ritesh began his immersion in the sounds of the tabla when he was already a fifteen-year-old high school student in Kalkota, trying to look cool in his kurta and jeans, dreaming of playing filmi music in Mumbai. His elder brother was then teaching kathak at the Ali Akbar College of Music in the US. Through him, Ritesh was introduced to his first guru, Shankar Ghosh, the father of tabla great Bikram Ghosh. Established in the Farukhabad gharana by Ghosh, Ritesh began to realize what playing the tabla was all about, not the money, not the fame, but the experience – the musical high. He moved on to study with Zakir Hussain, and finally Pandit Swapan Chaudhari. his current teacher. In 1987, Ritesh ji moved to Toronto with his former wife, kathak performer Joanna Das. They were both a hit at Vishnu Mandir, and Ritesh ji soon began teaching there, learning from his students while they learned from him.

On the other hand, Santosh Naidu and Gurtej Hunjan each got an early start. Gurtej’s parents were trying to find some way to stop him from bugging the tabla players at the gurdwara, and after going through several teachers, they hit on Ritesh ji. "He made it fun to learn," says Gurtej. For Ritesh ji, that’s what it’s all about. Santosh, born into an exceptionally musical family, was caught on film trying to play the tabla in his uncle’s lap as a toddler. After seeing Ritesh perform, Santosh’s father rushed his reluctant young son to Ritesh ji’s class at Vishnu Mandir in the late 80s, when he was just beginning to teach. Santosh has been with the ensemble since its conception."Why have I stuck with it? I love tabla!" Dumb question – good answer.

Recently, tabla nawaazi has turned into something of a fad. Ritesh ji tells me, "these days you go to Calcutta and in any alleyway, you find ten good tabla players happening…they are good to a limit, but they haven’t gone to the next step." Similarly, electronic musicians have turned sampling and looping tabla beats into an exercise in cultural correctness, without knowing squat about the technique or the patterns. It’s the death of a tradition, but this is what we’re buying.

Ritesh ji’s view: like Loblaw’s shoppers filling their grocery carts with President’ Choice samosay, the general public has too little audio exposure to distinguish the profundity of hardcore Indian Classical music from the banality of a haphazardly slammed taal on an ad for life insurance. Santosh and Gurtej agree that it’s crucial to strike an accord between tradition and innovation; certain fetters have to be cast off in order for the 21st century tabla nawaaz to be able to explore his or her music to the fullest extent. Santosh, who’s worked with I Mother Earth and Bass is Base, nevertheless insists that there are certain things you just can’t throw overboard:

"In terms of technique, you can’t go anywhere otherwise than tradition. I think that if you feel you’re making an innovative technique, you’re out in left field. I’m a very big stickler for technique – the technique I use has been passed down to me from my teacher’s teacher’s teacher, so it’s traditional, and that’s the way it should be. Tabla shouldn’t be played with sticks."

To get a taste of the Tabla Ensemble, check out their 10th anniversary concert on January 26th and 27th at the Du Maurier Theatre. For more info, see the Events page. Saal girah mubarak, Toronto Tabla Ensemble.