Customer Reviews

Tabla Tarang: Melody on Drums

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This cd is incredible! Kamalesh Maitra and his tabla tarang playing produce some of the most eerie, creepy, and beautiful Indian music I have ever heard.

There's just something about the tone of these drums and the melodies being improvised. Listening to this cd makes me feel like I have stumbled upon some sort of sacred Hindu ceremony that Westerners were never supposed to witness.

A previous reviewer likened this music to gamelan. While I do think there are times when this cd does evoke a mood somewhat similar to Javanese gamelan (not Balinese gamelan at all though) this music is completely different from all gamelans in many ways. That's not good or bad, it just "is".

There is an intimacy about this recording that is absolutely magical. I really can't think of any other way to say it... this cd really does make me feel like I am in a cave in India, taking part in, or witnessing the most sacred and secret of Hindu ceremonies.

Whether you have all the sarod, sitar, and sarangi cd's in the world or not, there is still an amazing part of the north Indian music puzzle missing for you if you have never heard Kamalesh Maitra play the tabla tarang. I must also mention that Trilok Gurtu provides perfect tabla accompaniment here. This is the best recording I've heard him take part in.

As a separate recommendation I'd like to mention a cd called White Elephants And Golden Ducks: Enchanting Musical Treasures From Burma. If you'd like to hear other sorts of tuned drums, Burma's major set is called pat waing and there is an extremely cool pat waing solo track on White Elephants And Golden Ducks, as well as ensemble examples of pat waing and other Burmese tuned percussion.

Just to spice things up I would have liked to also recommended my favorite Javanese gamelan recording but it has been out-of-print now for a couple years.

This is one of the most incredible recordings I have ever heard. Choose my ten favorites from my collection of 1,000 and this would be in it. Pandit Kamalesh Maitra is apparently the last living master of a particular style of solo tabla playing where the tabla drums actually play the melody. Mr. Maitra is encircled with carefully tuned tabla that allow him to play the sort of melody normally carried by a sitar or other stringed instrument. This is traditional Indian music, with only a drone instrument and Trilok Gurtu playing tabla as rhythm accompaniament. You won't be disappointed by the true mastery demonstrated on this very listenable solo drumming recording.
By the way, the cd comes with a very informative 50+ page booklet about the music, the instrument, and the artist.

I love drumming albums, but I've never heard anything like this. The recording is clean, the booklet it comes with is extremely informative, and the melodies of the drums awesomely beautiful, both lively and soothing. It is a masterpiece. (I wouldn't use the words "eerie" or "creepy" like another reviewer has, but that description seems to appeal to that particular reviewer.)

I like to go to sleep listening to Pandit Kamalesh Maitra play, but the album also makes a great background for meditation & prayer, writing, lounging around talking with friends, etc.

Mixes well with other Indian music (e.g. sitar music) or other drumming albums from around the world.

You will not be sorry if you buy this album. It's truly amazing.

This is absolutely stunning in terms of recording quality. If you have a good playback system, go ahead at once and buy this recording!

A solid addition to your world music collection.