In the summer of 2007, three music travellers from the island countries of the Far East came together and created an accidental fusion of musical DNA. A new adventure in metamorphosis began. With more than 20 years experiences on the Tabla drum, Waka’s virtuosic musicality blends fittingly with the enchanting and soulful sound created by the young and phenomenal Sitar player, Yo. An invitation brought them together to meet Janelle, a gifted fiddler. While their musical journey had brought Yo and Waka from Japan and India to Taiwan, Janelle was carrying her musical dream from Taiwan to Boston and Urumqi, and back again to her homeland of Taiwan. Their transformed music seems more familiar than ever: a musical rainbow spans the horizon – a sophisticated Hindustani elegance meets the entrancing Uyghur mystique. Both forms imbibe a unique Okinawa redolence and a familiar Chinese accent. ShantaaL is the world’s first ever Indo-Uyghur fusion group. The original melodies of ShantaaL are arrayed magnificently in the vibrant colours of fascinating tales and inspired visions. So, join ShantaaL for a journey to tomorrow, along the ancient and legendary Silk Road.
ShantaaL plays the music of North Indian Classical music “Raga”, Uyghur Classical music “12 Muqum” and folk music in the classical repertoire. The improvisational style fuses Indian and Central Asian forms to create a unique cross-over standard that recalls the legendary Silk Road of our ancestors. Added to this are well known world classics, and the aboriginal and folk music of both Taiwan and Japan, both of which are also fused with various contemporary pop and world music styles.
Waka (full name: Toshihiro Wakaike) / Indian tabla
Waka was born in Osaka, Japan.In 1987, Waka went to Varanasi, India. For 8 years, he worked with Master Shree Keshav Rao Nayak on benares styles of playing Tabla. Later in 2001, He also worked with Master Shree Dilip Mukherjee for 7 years on Farkabad styles. With rich experiences in tabla performing art, Waka has given numerous concerts and workshops in India, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan. He also has four major international released records.
http://www.myspace.com/tablawaka
Yo (Full Name: Ryohei Kanemistu) / sitar
Yo was born in Chiba, Japan. During a backpacker trip to India in 2001, he encountered the Indian instrument “sitar”. In 2002, Yo formed a jazz duo “Saraswati” in Okinawa. In 2004, he entered Hindusthani classical music department at Visva-Bharati University in India, and began his serious studies in sitar performance. With years of experiences on sitar performing art, Yo has been invited giving numerous concerts and workshops in India, Japan and Taiwan, such as Visva-Bharati university hall, Arobind Asram, International development institute(India) ,Kyoto Saga art collage(Japan), Pas36, German Culture Center, Little White House, Eslite Bookstore (Taiwan--, and so forth.
http://www.myspace.com/sitaryo
Janelle Chang / voice, violin, satar, erhu, ejik
Janelle is a Taiwan-based multi-instrumentalist on violin, erhu, piano, satar(Uyghur bowed instrument), vocalist, composer and improviser, whose styles combine Chinese, Turkic, Near eastern, klezmer, jazz, classical and contemporary of sorts. After studying in contemporary improvisation department at New England Conservatory and the Art Research Institute of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, Janelle has established an unique personal style of improvisation and composition fused with these three major contours: ethnic, classical, jazz and contemporary music. Janelle has worked with the top-rate artists from all these fields on numerous concerts and recordings, including Joe Maneri, Hankus Netsky, Tami Machnai, Hey Rim Jeon, just to name a few. Her works have been highly-appraised by influential music figures such as Joe Maneri, Ran Blake, Danilo Perez, George Garzone, and the Chinese pop producer, Guo Rem Haung.
http://www.myspace.com/janelleyichen
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Hi Shantaal ... thanks for taking part in my page for musicians of the world ... blessings from the Swallow's Nest in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China, Clay, Pam & Xiaoqing
