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Page of Swords & The High Priestess, vol.19-3
Now, furthermore, Masato was eager to apologize to Karsh Kale, an Indian-American tabla player and organizer of a club event called "ASIAN MASSIVE".
Masato first met Karsh Kale in 2000, when Karsh Kale participated in a project called Tabla Beat Science and released the album "Tala Matrix" on September 12, 2000. Tabla Beat Science is a project started by world-renowned bassist and producer Bill Laswell and top tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain. The project has been joined by three more tabla players, Trilok Gurtu, Talvin Singh, and Karsh Kale. Other members include the great Sārangī player Ustad Sultan Khan, Fabian Alsultany (aka Sultan 32) on keyboards, and DJ Disk on turntables.
I knew Talvin Singh among them. I knew of Talvin Singh because he participated in the sessions for Madonna's 2000 album "Music" and co-wrote "Cyber-Raga" with her. As Masato explained to me on the plane from Hawaii to Japan, Madonna was indeed very familiar with British Pop/Club music, so she must have known Talvin Singh.
Masato also asked Karsh Kale to elaborate on the "Far East Rare Groove" club event called "ASIAN MASSIVE". In the late 90s, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney, and others of second-generation Indian descent living in the UK began to attract attention.
Later, the boom spread to the United States, where Karsh Kale started the club event "ASIAN MASSIVE," and the movement came to be known as the "Asian Underground" in the United Kingdom and "ASIAN MASSIVE" in the United States. This is, very simply, a mixed movement of traditional South Asian and electric music that was started by musicians of Indian and Pakistani descent living in Western countries.
As a result, Masato decided to introduce examples of fusion between Asian music and club music, with a focus on "ASIAN MASSIVE," at least once every three months. And it was decided that Karsh Kale would advise him on the music selection. Masato was familiar with Asian "Popular Music," but his interests were a bit older and he needed to learn more about the latest Asian "Popular music". Masato wanted to learn a lot from Karsh Kale, and in fact, Karsh Kale often made guest appearances on "Far East Rare Groove". Masato became familiar with the music of, for example, MIDIval Punditz, a DJ/producer duo from New Delhi, India, consisting of Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj, or Ryukyu Underground, an American musician Jon Taylor and British DJ Keith Gordon, who live in Okinawa, Japan, and he introduced them to New York City through "Far East Rare Groove".
That's not all. Masato also learned the theory of Indian classical music from Karsh Kale. He taught him about "Rāga", the musical mode of melody-based Indian classical music, and "Tāla", the beat of the Indian rhythmic cycle, which constitutes the basis of the music as a whole. No, that is too difficult for me to explain in detail, LOL. Indian classical music has a deep relationship with Hinduism, so my good friend Aki Sugihara seems to be able to explain "Rāga" and "Tāla." She is a Yoga teacher who trained in Kolkata, India with a group of followers of St. Ramakrishna. Now, regarding Masato Shiraishi, he actually got tabla, practiced it, and learned how to play it from Karsh Kale.
So, he was very grateful to Karsh Kale. That's why he felt so guilty about leaving "Far East Rare Groove". By all means, Masato said, he would like to meet with Karsh Kale and apologize. In fact, he did. Masato went to his club event.
Please forgive me.
I failed to take advantage of the opportunity you gave me.
I have squandered your goodwill.
Please, please forgive me.
Of course, Karsh Kale himself had no intention of blaming Masato; on the contrary, he was naturally concerned about Masato's terminal cancer. He came to visit us at our home. Karsh Kale came to our home with a lot of Indian classical music and new music materials from his "ASIAN MASSIVE" friends, hoping that Masato would be able to spend his life fighting the disease with great vigor and enthusiasm.
Of course, these were later introduced in "Far East Rare Groove" on Masato's recommendation, especially "A Journey Begins," the debut album of Kaushiki Chakraborty, a famous Hindustani singer who debuted in 2002 and could be called a "newcomer" at that time, was well received by Yoga enthusiasts. Masato liked Kaushiki Chakraborty very much. Her second album, "Hamaaro Pranaam," was released on December 1, 2005, and he was so pleased with Kaushiki Chakraborty that he had already acquired it by January of the following year, and is still a big fan of hers.
Masato also received from Karsh Kale a copy of Grateful Dead drummer/percussionist Mickey Hart's book, "Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion". Among the many rhythmic topics in the book is a detailed description of Ustad Zakir Hussain's "Chilla," a rigorous discipline practiced by classical musicians in northern India, in which one is confined to a hut for 40 days and devotes 10 hours daily to playing.
Masato was intensely attracted to this book. As a result, his passion for creating his own music was rekindled. He had a complete set of drums: three Snare Drums, a Bass Drum, about five Tom-Toms of different sizes, a FloorTom, a Hi-Hat cymbal, about seven Crash Cymbals of different sizes, and a Ride Cymbal. Cowbell and Tambourine…. They were dismembered and ready to use, but when they played, they often used drum sets that were in the performance hall, so there was no sign of much use. As for the Snare Drum and the pedals for the Bass Drum, it seems that Masato usually brought his own, and there were signs that they were well used. So there was no practicing drums in his cramped apartment in Boogie Down Bronx. Well, that is true! But Masato would practice tabla whenever he found the time and place. In our new home, he could practice tabla without worrying about disturbing others! I had sought and succeeded in finding our house where he could listen to music somewhat loudly and practice his percussion instruments! He started practicing tabla and Karsh Kale also came over from time to time and taught him a lot. Sometimes I would make vegetable curry and Karsh Kale and Masato would eat it after practice.
Yes, that's right!
In other words, Masato told me that he wanted me to eat Curry and Rice when the cancer was completely cured, but the opportunity came unexpectedly soon. Even in the midst of his battle with cancer, he was eating the vegetable curry I made! After some time had passed since we started our recuperation attempt in the fall, and with the New Year “2006” upon us, and on a very cold day, I made a vegetable curry for the first time and fed it to Masato and Karsh Kale.
Continued story : Music Should Make Everyone Happy (4) - The Case of Maryam Putri RAHMAT -
©Mitsuhiro Toda@Screenwriter Group Aquariusera
