Bill Laswell and Tabla Beat Science

The musical project TABLA BEAT SCIENCE presents the current, definitive world music experience. It is a melding of cultures, combining ancient rhythms and modern audio/visual psychedelia in a way that both references the past and enhances the future.

The other day I was introduced to no other the musical masterpiece, Tabla Beat Science. Lead by renound bassist Bill Laswell, and Indian rhythm masterminds Zakir Hussain, and Talvin Singh this project is a far cry from what I'm used to listening to...and needless to say, a big breath of fresh air. Essentially, the tabla is an archetypal Native American hand drum that is geared to long cycles, most often 16 beats, and is the backbone in the musical lineup. (For a frame of reference, George Harrison used them in "Love You Too"). Accompanying this tinny progressive rhythm is the twangy almost sitar-like string instrument called the serangi which provides the direction to where the set will go. As the DVD (the album is called "Tala Matrix") progresses, Bill Laswell enters stage right and plucks his deep melodic bass layering on top of what the serangi has provided.

After the first few 16-20 minute songs, the band spun off in a different direction by applying an Indian Classical to a vocal number performed so beautifully by the humble Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw. Her display of tone and pitch, awe inspiring to say the least, redirects the focus to a fusion of Electro-Jazz with Indian Classical. The show explodes into wars with instruments and slowly resolves, re-occurs and drops off.

At this point, me, the humble viewer, was shocked and astonished to see the collaboration of eastern and western traditional sounds slowly take hold. The longer they played, the distinction between the geography in music no longer existed but instead fashioned a new sound, a universal melody (keep in mind too, that the tabla was not only used for rhythm, it is also a very tonal instrument).

Unfortunately, I don't have nearly the craft of the language needed to depict the Tabla Beat Science Live in San Fransisco DVD. Go listen and watch. If boundary-breaking and genre-transcending don't vere from your liking, check it out with an open mind.

The Finals Lament

So here I am, sitting in a small library cubicle feeding useless information through my tired brain. It most certainly doesn't help my zombie bewilderment to ask any sort of "why" questions like, "What in the hell is all this for?" Goddamn. It happened again...when I attempt to conjure up an answer to this question, my eyes shoot up to the ceiling and I lean back in my chair. Once again, after five or so minutes of 'thorough' studying my productivity is at a standstill.

Motivation.

What can I draw from my motivation to excell in some of my OTHER life pursuits as opposed to excelling in this semster's academics? Is my motivation based on the degree to which something captivates me? A sense of pride that follows independent knowledge? ...maybe.

As individuals we should only absorb a certain amount of information from lectures, classes, advisors, counselors, parents, lawyers, etc., before unearthing our own knowledge. In other words, drawing conclusions leads to ignorance, especially when we rely on others to provide that information...and yes, even omniscient professors.

Here, you may be wondering if im trying to wrap myself in a huge satisfaction blanket' (which deflects the opinions and insights of others) and why I'm looking down at the meager humans from my ivory tower.

*I'm really not trying to hand down life lessons.

But how much can one really say he/she knows if there is no rudiment knowledge of the groundwork? ...not a whole lot. Instead, in a wash of fastidious bullet points in my studying these last couple of weeks, I've learned when Charles Dickins birthday is, the year Moby Dick was published, and where he went to college. Hmm...congratulations Dad, your investment in my college career has endowed me with the preparation I need for the 'real world.' Down the road when my superior asks why I failed to properly load the fry-ilator, I can proudly remark, "Charle Dickins made of the first references to French Fries in a Tale of Two Cities."

I know he'll be impressed.

"I went to college but they taught me to lose oversight and focus on facts!"

The influx of these fact-based business survey courses has flooded my brain to terminal capacity. The evils lie in the names, dates, and other trivial tediums which have melted my neurotransmitters into a gooey slime. However, if I have a strong conceptual understanding of
the topic, shouldn't I be equally as rewarded as some schmuck who spends his time regurgitating facts?

The Economics T.A.'s relentlessly harped on statistics, demographics, and chronologies that have no applicable purpose other than to supposedly evaluate knowledge. I say bullshit! How does an ability to spout these arbitrary numbers and letters affect how much I actually know about the material?

Not a fucking thing.

After being here for 4 years, I've learned that college is nothing but deadlines and stresses, and students ability to meet them...course material is secondary. BAH!

--Congrats to those who (almost) graduated. You know who you are.