A well-connected young tabla player named Suphala Patankar plies the waters of New York society:
The setting was the Greenwich Village town house of Diane Von Furstenberg, where, at the behest of the author Salman Rushdie, a fan, Suphala had been invited to play the tabla with her band at a party honoring the writers’ organization PEN. The crowd of around 200 quieted briefly as Padma Lakshmi, Mr. Rushdie’s wife, introduced Suphala as a new talent worthy of their ears…The writer Suketu Mehta, long a friend of Suphala’s, said that for a young Indian woman with musical aspirations the tabla was an odd choice. “It’s the equivalent of finding a female drummer in a rock ‘n’ roll band,” he said. “It’s not unheard of, but it’s unusual…”
She’s got a Forrest Gump-like ability to connect with the famous:
Last year at a party at Bungalow 8, Suphala met Mr. Rushdie, Ms. Lakshmi, Mr. [Sean] Lennon and Harper Simon, the son of Paul Simon. Within days she was jamming in the studio with Mr. Lennon, the younger Mr. Simon and Edie Brickell, the singer, who is married to Paul Simon. Mr. Rushdie offered to help promote her music…After hearing Norah Jones, the daughter of Ravi Shankar, sing at the Knitting Factory in 2002, Suphala introduced herself and asked the singer if she wouldn’t mind stopping by her apartment to record some vocal tracks. Ms. Jones obliged, not long before her first album orbited her into international stardom…
Suphala’s got a traditional side…
Alla Rakha was known to take poor tabla playing as an offense. “It was nerve-racking to play in front of him anytime, but the first time especially,” Suphala said. “Afterward he said, ‘From now on you can study with me and Zakir, but no one else…’ “
And a fusion side:
One song, “The Lover,” contains a mix of the voices of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith reading a Deepak Chopra translation of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore…Perry Farrell, the singer for Jane’s Addiction and at the time the frontman of the band Porno for Pyros, stopped in to see her perform at a club. After the show Mr. Farrell invited Suphala to join his troupe, which then included a contortionist and two women who did a fire-breathing routine on stilts during concerts… “I was the most sober person on the tour.”
She’s had some inattentive audiences in America, but she’s big in Afghanistan:
Word that a student of Allarakha and Zakir Hussein was in the country made the national television news, and the concert hall was packed by locals and master musicians. Few of them, if any, had ever seen a woman play tabla. “They really seemed to be celebrating,” Suphala said. “They said no musician had come for 20 years, so it was a big deal to them that someone came and just that they were recognized.”
As for Suphala’s music, she’s a crisp, rapid and skilled tabla player. But to my ears, some of her tracks submerge the beauty of the instrument to new age-y synth. Listen here.
“Wind Farm Harvest” is a collaborative effort with Living Color’s Vernon Reid! (several others, too)If the company she keeps is indicative of the album, it sounds like Suphala is worth checking out…
I love the before and after shots. (Actually, she gets alot more made up than that, but most of those links were dead. Take a look at her site’s photos for some serious face paint).
Personally, I prefer the before shot.
After listening to five snippets, I have to say that her tabla sound is definitely drowned out, or at least understated. Perhaps an attempt to draw in the listener with familiar new-agey sound and then let it rip. I’m curious as to whether there are solos on this album.
I studied tabla with her and Zakir Hussain, as I went off to study film she continued playing tabla and has now established herself as a professional musician. We have grown to be close friends for many years as women breaking bounderies. ROCK ON SUPH! Arati
Hello Suphalaji,am anton Feral a disciple of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee and am playing for 11 years and exclusively practicing Tabla minimum 8 hours a day .My wish was first to play all the Tabla bols but all without exception and am riching and tuching slowly slowly (as it has to be) the level i want.It needs a lot of patience ,you must know it.Please visit my web site if you want : http://www.antonferal.com go to the section (SONIDOS) to hear my Tabla and start from the second track because the first one has a too bad sound quality.Am just sharing what i did, my efforts ,my Love and devotion with all the people involved in that discipline that is Tabla.Before learning with Anindodha i was student of Ustad Ilmas Husain Khan (Khalifa of Lucknow Gharana) , son of Ustad Afaq Husain the legendary and respected Tabla Khakifa.Anindodha learned and started Tabla with him 5 years and Zakirji respects him like anything,he was really like a half God and not only for his Tabla but for his human qualities also,a so good man that used to distribute all the money of his concert on the way back to home to all the poor of the street he was meeting on the way.If after having heard my Tabla you have any idea or wish to use my sound then donŽt hesitate otherwise if you just listened and think it is good or bad and donŽt see any point i will understand.Am only practicing for 11 years everydays of its and now am a bit tensed ,i canŽt survive with my heart,am now in Spain (Madrid) and it is very very very tuff for me here.We could cooperate together with Tabla,2 different Tabla gives a lot of colour.Thanks for your attention,best wishes and best regards. anton Feral