Toronto Tabla Ensemble and Bif Naked join forces to deliver a Prayer For The Mother in their hypnotic and exotic new single and video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The compelling collaboration between the groundbreaking musical collective and the Indian-born rock queen is the latest single from their latest (and greatest) album For The Love Of Tabla — an 11-song LP that dazzles listeners with innovative songwriting, sophisticated grooves, and some of the best tabla playing in the world, of course.
Prayer For The Mother draws on the unique instrumental configurations that continue to assert TTE as a musical tour de force, and one of Canada’s most prestigious and creative exports. The effortless fusion of rhythmic percussion and rock sensibilities serve as a sonic mechanism to honour the power of motherhood, as Canadian icon Bif Naked’s hypnotic lyrics accompany TTE founder Ritesh Das’s lightning-fast vocalizations to elevate the song into the music stratosphere.
Beyond Prayer For The Mother, For The Love Of Tabla — TTE’s eighth studio album — is bursting with a worldly charm reflective of the diversity found in every musical moment. The album also featured an all-star cast of renowned artists — including longtime collaborator and Taiko master Kiyoshi Nagata, violinist/composer Miamon Miller, drummer Dale Anne Brendon and sitarist George Koller, to name a few. Recording the album during a global pandemic was not easy, and all of the sensational artists featured on the release played remotely all across the globe to bring the album to fruition. Thankfully, however, the collective of passionate artists found a way to make it work. As Das says, “I think members and performers took advantage of the situation and turned it into something positive.”
Over the last three decades, TTE have wowed audiences playing some of the biggest stages around the world. As they’ve brought their intricate music to the masses, they have won and been nominated for numerous creative awards including the Global Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in composition, the Independent Music Award for Best World Traditional Song, and a Juno nomination for their enigmatic record Firedance. With a myriad of accolades under their belt, Das and TTE continue to push their art as a way of uniting and educating listeners. As he suggests, “if you can educate people about the culture, I think you can eliminate a lot of racism.”
Watch Prayer For The Mother above, listen to For The Love Of Tabla below, and get in the groove with the Toronto Tabla Ensemble at their website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
