Hey Friends and Fam, Lots of positive developments since I posted last. I've found my way to Tollygunj where I'm living in a flat with my friend Raphael and another cool guy named Sam, an ethnic Indian from South Africa. The flat is owned by Raphael's guru Samar Saha (Shah'-mahr Shah'-hah). Here he is with one of his other diciples named Bilal to the left. Guruji and his wife have treated me like family since I arrived in Tollygunj, which is a much more pleasant although not wealthy neighborhood in south Kolkata. Its where most of the Bengali (as far as language/ethnicity not the same as Bangladeshi) film industry is located and where almost all the major musicians in Kolkata live. The Sudder St/downtown area where I started out is super harsh by comparison as far as far as noise, traffic and tout issues are concerned. So I'm really glad to be here.
I got to actually play harmonium for the first time last night. Guruma (formal term for Guruji's wife, ji or da is added to people's names to show respect) invited/told me to try her's. She is a prominant light-classical vocalist and she said she will teach me vocal music until I start my harmonium lessons with my teacher Hironmai (Hih-rohn'-moy). I made a formal request to Guruji to connect me with a harmonium teacher and he said he would set me up with Hironmai who is the same person that Ehren had put me in touch with before I came. So I'll start tomorrow. I'm looking forward to buying or ordering a harmonium.
We've gone to concerts everyday since I got here although not today. Yesterday we saw and amaizing (sorry if thats spelled wrong. There is no auto-speller on this computer and I'm having enough trouble with the worn-out keyboard to concern myself with spell-check) tabla player named Shubankar Banerjee.
Well I lookforward to hearing from you all by email or blog comment. Take care,
Andrew
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1 comment:
Wow, Andrew, you've made fantastic progress in a mere 3 days! The new digs sound much better, both in terms of comfort as well as community. Surrounded with musicians, you'll soak in a lot by osmosis in addition to formal instruction.
I loved the tabla videos. You friend's guru was amazing - and was there a harmonium occasionally peeking into view in the far right of the screen? If so, do you have any idea why it wasn't miked like the tabla so it would be more balanced in terms of sound?
Just for fun, here's a link for a YouTube video of an Irish bodhran solo. Like the tablas, bodhrans are pitched drums. Unlike tablas, the pitch is controlled by moving the supporting hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iZUA7FamZY
Take care,
Linda
http://truffles-turtles-tunes.blogspot.com/
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