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Artist:
Sasha- Vocals
Derek Roberts - Guitar, hand percussion and arrangements
Abhijeet Banerjee - Pakhawaj
Somnath Roy - Dumbek, hand percussion
Anant Masurkar- Tabla
Also featuring the Kamal Pradhan String Section
1. Manmat maarve miyan - Raga Kafi (6.59)
2.Bhaanda ve Maheboob - Raga Khamaj (11.22)
3. Ho miyaan janewale- Raga Kafi (10.33)
4. Mhaara jiyara - Raga Khamaj, 7 beats[rupak taal] (11.54)
5. Laalwala joban- Raga Bhairavi, Tal 16 beats (13.10)
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Tappa can be considered as is one of the major genres of musical tradition in India
and yet it is now heard less often and very little is widely known about it especially in
the West. This high energy, appealing music is born out of journeys through exotic
territories and its long history is continuing in this new collaborative project between
the newly discovered, immense talent of Sasha (Shashwati Mandal Paul) from Bhopal,
India and Sense World Music producer and musician Derek Roberts who hails not
from India but from the valleys of South Wales.
Tappa has ancient roots and has always been in a slowly evolving state. This is mainly
due to its unique fusion of influences which came together via a part of the Silk Route
which crossed the borders of Punjab and the deserts of Sindh to Afghanistan.
The music was also influenced by a key person, the musical talent Ghulam Nabi Shorie
(Shorie Miya) of Avadh [Lucknow].
Shorie Miya, like his father, was a court-singer in the late 1700s A.D. The common
myth tells that he was initially trained in Khayal singing and had a great command of
'Taan' (the sometimes complex rhythmic patterns found in Indian music). He was not
satisfied with Khayal for expressing his skill of singing Taan, so he restlessly travelled
and while in Punjab, he listened to the folk songs of camel drivers, which he thought
to be suitable for his own style of singing. These simple musicians travelled the
Silk Road and brought with them the influences of their folk heritage and journeys.
The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is an ancient series of trade and cultural transmission
routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent.
It connected East and West Asia by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks,
soldiers, nomads, urban dwellers and of course musicians. It was originally initiated
around 114 BC in China and was used to transport silk to the world and became a
great source of information and cultural interaction as people moved across territories.
Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great
civilizations of China, Japan, Egypt, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and
helped to lay the foundations for the modern world. In the case of Tappa it supplied a
route for shared musical experience and development.
During the time of Pathan dynasty, the Punjab Province of India (undivided) was
geographically distributed into five regions: - Ama, Lamma, Tatpa, Patni and Pabbi.
Tatpa was a deserted area to the east of Sindh River and it is thought that this is
where the word Tappa originates from. In this region, Balochi and Afghani traders
travelled by camels. During their journeys they used to sing Punjabi folk songs
elaborating the love stories of famous contemporary couples like Hir and Ranjha
who are characters from some of the most famous, romantic folk tales of the Punjab.
These folk singers naturally had shaky and high pitched voices and while travelling on
camels their songs became shakier! This explains the origins of this stylistic element
of Tappa singing.
So Shorie Miya was not the founder of the Tappa style, but in its more 'modern'
context is believed to have greatly influenced it. The way he elaborated it so beautifully
ensured that Tappa became one of the most attractive genres of Hindustani Music. To
this day the lyrics are in Punjabi but Tappa also holds references of other languages
from the regions that the camel drivers past through and from the locations of more
recent musicians.
The ragas used in the music are romantic, have a light mood or express pathos such as
Khamaj, Kafi, Bhairavi, Jhinjhoti, Tilang, Sindhura, Des, and Taals (rhythms) such as
Punjabi, Pashto and Sitarkhani are popularly practiced. A special feature of Tappa, are
the energetic Taans and uneven rhythmic accents.
In the last century the Banaras and Gwalior gharanas (schools) continued to propagate
the style and more recently noteworthy vocalists giving full justice to Tappa are
Girija Devi, Rajabhau Kogje, Arati Ankalikar, Ganesh Prasad Misra, and Rajan and
Sajan Misra. The most illustrious Tappa performer from Gwalior gharana is without
doubt, Malini Rajurkar. She explored Tappa with some new techniques and in the
1960's and 70's, when Tappa was not frequently performed, she popularised it for the
common audience and became the main catalyst for rousing general curiosity for
Tappa in later generations.
So, as we can see from this brief history, Tappa has had some notable developments
due to the influence of some key individuals who had a vision for the direction of the
form and have developed or popularised it in a particular period. This task for the
new millennium seems to have now passed to another generation and a number of
key individuals.
Sasha (Shashwati Mandal Paul) is a highly talented khayal singer who has also been
brought up on a rigorous diet of Tappa, so is perfectly placed to develop and express
herself through this form. She also has a clear and reedy timbre perfect for the music.
The singer was introduced to Sense World Music producers Derek Roberts and
Alpesh Patel back in January 2005 by Akhilesh Gundecha the pakhawaj player with the
world renowned Dhrupad singers the Gundecha Brothers. When they heard her sing
they both felt she had a special talent and immediately did a demo recording with tabla
harmonium and tanpura.
Derek Roberts "I had no real understanding of Tappa at the time but felt an immense
potential in both Sasha as an artist and the form itself and I had a sudden impulse
directing me to where the music might go. I knew nothing of the history, the lyrical content
or structures of the music at that time either, but felt we must do something with it and I
could already hear instrumentation that I felt would work. I could also hear flavours of the
Middle East and rhythms that I would not associate with the Indian classical music
I normally work with at the label."
So, armed only with some dreams and the demo, Derek and Alpesh set off back to the
UK. In 2006 they called Sasha back to the studio and recorded again amidst their very
tightly packed studio schedule. At the time, Sense had also been recording
Kala Ramnath's Iconic fusion album 'Drive East' which featured percussionists
Abhijit Banerjee and Somnath Roy. They were immediately invited onto the Tappa
Journey session as most of the percussive instrumentation Derek had visualised was
available. The other key element in the creative plan was the use of a string section
which Derek could hear providing not just melodic passages but rhythmic and
harmonic sections too. Indian music generally does not use much in the way of
harmony as the forms are primarily melodically driven and the improvisational use of
the raga notes makes using harmony difficult.
At this point it must have seemed a crazy plan to try to achieve a new development in
a musical tradition with untested instrumental and musical elements, but executive
producer Alpesh Patel took the brave decision to have a string section travel down
from Mumbai to Gujarat to do a one day, eleven hour session with Derek who was
also composing and arranging on the same day!
Fortunately, the section led by well known arranger Kamal Pradhan, has worked on a
number of top bollywood films and were up to the job. So, while Derek composed the
string parts with his trusty bazouki, Kamal wrote down the scores which were
immediately copied and given to the players. The songs were recorded track by track
with Derek conducting and honing the takes.
Derek "At this point I had to visualise what parts might work together and got the string
section to play each part of the compositions as separate takes and then got them to play
them again and again to duplicate elements in order to give a bigger sound."
The sessions came back to Sense's U.K. studio where all the finished arrangements
were finally created and completed by Derek Roberts with additional instrumentation.
It should be noted here that all the vocals on the CD were single takes and no
additional overdubs were made which is a mark of the incredible ability and hours of
practise that Sasha has put in over the years.
In April 2008, Sasha left India for the first time and performed at the Darbar music
festival in Leicester where she gave a very informative lecture and demonstration of
Tappa and a concert to the highly knowledgeable audience gathered at the prestigious
event. Nobody at the festival knew Sasha before that weekend but she brought the
house down and had everyone gasping with admiration for her talent and numerous
requests for this recording to be released…so here it is!
The songs on the CD have a theme of passion, romance, and the pain of attachment.
In the first song, "Manmat maarve miyan", the woman is telling her beloved not to
be disheartened. She tells him that he has beautiful eyes and that they can
communicate together through them. With a look she assures him that she is his only.
In Track 2 "Bhaanda ve Maheboob", the lyrics approximately translate as "I like and
expect you, O Maheboob." "I have fallen in love both day and night." "O Shorie
Maheboob, you stay in my heart."
In the third song, "Ho miyaan janewale", the woman is calling out to her lover -
"O lover I beg you to come back in the name of the almighty." "You have the most
beautiful eyes." "Each time you come and take away my heart." "O come and
embrace me my beloved."
In Track 4 "Mhaara jiyara re", which is set to the 7 beat cycle (rupak taal), the lady is asking "Who has taken my heart in the night?" "It was my lover who came into my dreams and made me happy." "Now while we are parting I am feeling desperate."
In the final song, "Laalwala joban", the beloved is calling her lover, "O my youthful lover where are you?" "In which country do you live?" "It's spring everywhere and I am feeling unwell without you in my home." "Where are you?"
In this piece, Derek Roberts (who is also featured on guitar) has explored a theme which has distinctly Spanish undertones reflecting the notes of raag bhairavi, and it is interesting to consider how the music of India and the Middle East worked its way into Spain and other parts of Europe only to travel east again to end up in Tappa!
Sasha - Vocals
Abhijit Banerjee - Pakhawaj
Somnath Roy - Dumbek, Manjira,
Assorted hand percussion
Anant Masurkar - Tabla
Derek Roberts - Guitar,
Hand percussion
The Kamal Pradhan String Section :
Violin : Rizwan Sheikh,
Puran Singh, Sureshsingh Thakur,
Sapan Chaudhari,
Late. Anant Patel, Kamal Pradhan
Viola : Mark N., Nandkishor
Melody for orchestral section in
'Manmat maarve miyan' composed by
Kamal Pradhan
All other string compositions and
arrangements by Derek Roberts
Notation by Kamal Pradhan
Percussion arrangements by
Derek Roberts
SENSE WORLD MUSIC
93 Belgrave Road,
Leicester,
Leicestershire,
LE4 6AS,
UK.
Tel: +44 (0)116 266 7046
Fax: +44 (0)116 261 0480
Web: www.senseworldmusic.com
E-mail: info@senseworldmusic.com
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