Anuradha Paudwal at Brisbane Hindu Temple

At Hindu temples all around India and the world, there are often CDs playing of various holy mantras and kirtans with a high woman's voice. That singer is very often Anuradha Paudwal, and when I heard that she would be singing at the Brisbane Hindu Temple I knew it was not to be missed. There was a really wonderful devotional, unifying atmosphere. The temple was packed and people were trying to squeeze in anywhere, but despite that everyone was smiling and loving.

Anuradha Paudwal began with the famous Gayatri Mantra, went through a number of bhajans and kirtans at times exciting, at times sweet and calming, and finished by singing for the arati ceremony. Both the first and last pieces are very standard ceremonial chants, and Anuradha Paudwal's voice is surely the world's most heard singer of those mantras.

Brisbane Hindu Temple

Anuradha Paudwal singing for the Hindu community of Brisbane.
Alpesh did a fantastic job on dholak!!!

Things got pretty exciting at one stage

Bliss

I've even done my first Youtube upload so you can get a better sense of the vibe!

"Tamil Talents 08" concert photos

On Saturday I participated in the first ever "Tamil Talents - an evening of dance, music and drama", organised by the Tamil Cultural & Welfare Association (TaCWA). It brought together 10 cultural schools in the Brisbane region into a wonderful gala night of kids presenting Indian classical arts. It was also the first performance by my tabla students - the Ashu Babu Memorial Tabla School (Brisbane) - 3 of my students are Tamil and they represented our school with distinction. (BTW The Inaugural Ashu Babu Memorial Tabla School Concert will be held on August 9 in Sunnybank Community Hall and feature 10 of my students.)

Hope you enjoy my photos of the evening...

Ganesh-ji

Nadananjali School of Dance

Ashu Babu Memorial Tabla School
Joseph Nand (harmonium), Thejan, Sanjay, Jesinthan, Shen

Thejeswaran Elankayer (Thejan)

Sanjeyan Sivaananthan (Sanjay)

Jesinthan Ketheeswaran + Shen

Brisbane Tamil School (Gold Coast Campus)

Sri Krishna Music Academy

Arthavan's School of Miruthangam
(Also notice Arthavan giving miruthangam accompaniment for almost every other act on the night! Arthavan is still in high school and does concerts in India.)

Eswaralaya Kalaikoodam

Mathura Vaani

A bit of Tamil stand-up comedy to break things up...

Swaramanchari School of Arts

Iyngaran Fine Arts
Iyngaran Kantharajah (violin) and Myuri Kantharajah (tabla)
Myuri studies tabla with Yogesh Samsi (excellent student of Zakir Hussain) in Mumbai! Iyngaran and Myuri were visiting from Sydney.

Sri Saraswathi School of Music

Nadananjali School of Dance

Nadananjali School of Dance

"One World" concert photos

On Friday night I accompanied sitar player Shrabani Choudhury at the "One World" charity concert in Bardon. The concert was aimed at raising funds for Gallipoli Research Foundation and Australian Red Cross Myanmar Cyclone Appeal. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for long, but I was very happy to play with Shrabani again, who as always played very sweetly and beautifully.

Sahaja Yoga group - excellent high energy kirtans!

Shen accompanying sitar player Shrabani Choudhury

The final Forest Wednesday

From Sep 5th 2007 til July 9th this year I had a weekly jam session at vegetarian cafe The Forest in Boundary St, West End. July 9th was the last one for a number of reasons, mainly that the guy providing the sound system got another gig, but also because for me the gig had served its purpose. Last year I wanted a weekly jam gig to remind people that I was back in Brisbane, to meet some new musicians and to promote my other gigs. Now I'm getting ready for my Japan tour from August 21 and wanting to put time into recording with Tibet2Timbuk2 and etc... (I started a yoga class last week!)

Anyway to cut a long story short, World Music Wednesdays at The Forest are no more. Thanks very much to all the musicians who came and jammed, especially to Ravi (guitar), Robert (piano), Tony (vocal) and George (accordion) who came for the last one. Very special thanks to Ravi for being the number one regular jamming partner and a really nice guy. I expect we'll be making lots more great music after my trip to Japan.

The final Forest Jam - Tony, Ravi, Robert, Shen

(sorry to Accordion George who left before we got the camera going)

"Time for Tibet" concert photos

A few weeks ago on July 4, I played with Tibet2Timbuk2 at "Time for Tibet", a fundraising night for Australia Tibet Council and the Tibetan Community of Queensland in honour of the Dalai Lama's birthday. The concert was held at The Zoo, one of Brisbane's leading original live music venues. About 10 years ago, when I was in a percussion band called Bubada Dubada which had a monthly gig at The Zoo, I was there often, but this was my first gig there in years. It was a great night and a very successful fundraiser for the Tibetan cause.

Speed of Purple
Notice that all of the musicians on the night were presented with white Tibetan scarves

Tibet2Timbuk2

Ranger

Doch - gypsy music and a fantastic band

More Doch

Great photos of Tibet2Timbuk2 in City Hall

Almost a month ago Tibet2Timbuk2 played a show in the grand Main Auditorium of Brisbane City Hall. We were joined by guest artist Asim Gorashi on violin. I've just received some really nice photos by Carolyn Stubbin of Perfect Potion (who are sponsoring T2T2's upcoming CD). Check them out: