A Tablanaut’s Journey

Hear the tabla like you’ve never heard it before! This may seem a bold claim for an instrument central to subcontinental music for centuries, and redeployed to acclaim in drum’n’bass, jazz and beyond; but it’s true.

Kuljit Bhamra has been part of many of tabla’s explorations. He has recorded the great gurus, composed for stage and screen, and collaborated on some stunningly beautiful jazz records with saxophonist Andy Sheppard. His diverse career has led Bhamra to experiment by supplementing the traditional two-drum tabla set up with four additional drums, and precisely tuning them to create ‘multiphonic tabla.’

This unique array is deployed to tell Bhamra’s life story. His self-taught origins in Southall set him on a ‘Road to Non Gurudom’ (a provocatively unconventional track). His cultural contributions were such that he received a royal honour, celebrated on ‘Path to Honour’, a minimalist and melodic piece where the tabla sounds akin to a handpan (inverted steelpan).

This record is unapologetically eccentric. Its greatest legacy may be to show the innovations still possible on this venerable, venerated instrument.