Tibet2Timbuk2

Tenzin, Shen & Marcello - Tibet2Timbuk2

A Country & Eastern offering from the EthnoSuperLounge stable, world music group Tibet2Timbuk2 takes you on a journey from the meditative to the joyous with Tenzin (Tibet), Shen (tabla), and Marcello (African guitar & further west), with special guests. Afro-Asian galloping tunes!

Tibet2Timbuk2 has an eclectic repertoire including group arrangements of Tenzin’s Tibetan songs, Marcello’s English songs, collaborative songs and instrumentals and even classical tabla solo.  The overall sound is full and organic, with all three musicians sharing bass, percussion, harmony and melody roles to create a solid yet easy groove.

“One of the most astonishing things about “Music is Life” is the fundamental simplicity of the parts played by, in particular, the guitar and dranyen. Mostly uncomplicated and repeated phrases, they nevertheless combine with the tabla to produce an extraordinarily interesting and detailed sound that is intensely hypnotic and enchanting. This is a combination of Africa, India and Tibet, that, for all its unlikeliness, has resulted in a musical masterpiece.” (Mike Raine)

Audiences have the chance to hear long-time solo performer Tenzin’s songs with band accompaniment, and to hear him using the dranyen in completely new ways as a kind of “world music bass”.

Likewise Shen is using tabla in new ways, including playing bass lines on the bayan and adapting traditional Indian rhythms with African and reggae influences.

Singer-songwriter Marcello harmonises with yet another range of influences including African, reggae, country and rock.  Well-known from Brisbane band The Toothfaeries, his songs match the organic-acoustic sound of Tibet2Timbuk2 perfectly.

Their debut CD Music is Life takes listeners on a sonic journey from Tibet to Timbuktu, including 2008 QSong BEMAC World Music Award winning piece, Crane Song.  The title track is a collaboration with kora player and Guinean griot, Lansana Camara.

While T2T2 basically performs as a three-piece, we do like to invite soloists to join us for a song or two and have a regular roster of guest artists including

• Lansana Camara (Guinea)
• Taro Terahara (Indian flute)
• Peter Hunt (trumpet)
• Menaka Visvanathan (South Indian vocal)
• Asim Gorashi (Sudan)
• Cieavash Arean (Persia)

Despite the eclectic influences, this world music garage band blends with complete harmony and groove and is guaranteed not only to put a smile on your face and a tap in your feet but to engage your mind and soothe your spirit.

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Tenzin Choegyal draws on his traditional Tibetan roots to create music which expresses his thoroughly modern life. Since his world music debut ten years ago, Tenzin’s cantering rhythms, soaring vocals, flute and poignant stories have enchanted audiences around the globe.

Recent collaborations such as Tibet2Timbuk2 allow Tenzin room to experiment with rhythm and structure, to challenge deeply entrenched Tibetan musical norms and find a place in the complex tapestry of global sounds.

Tenzin plays the dranyen (long necked lute), lingbu (transverse flutes) various ritual objects and is well-known for his extraordinary vocal ability.

Crane Song (Ngagpey Sungkey) and Dawe Wola are examples of Tenzin’s songs supported by Tibet2Timbuk2.

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Marcello Milani is a singer, songwriter & guitarist.

Ask anyone who has seen Marcello live, and they’ll tell you that here is an artist whose songs and voice are filled with those rare attributes, honesty and integrity.

Marcello has performed at many festivals including Woodford Folk Festival, Livid Festival, Big Day Out & the National Folk Festival to name just a few. He is best known to many as the voice of Brisbane icons, The Toothfaeries. Arguably one of the most acclaimed and popular bands in the city’s recent history, The Toothfaeries, with Marcello out front, not only helped inspire the growth of Brisbane’s booming music scene, they influenced a small army of artists who have emerged in their wake.

Marcello also performed and recorded with amazing Afro/Roots groups Zimbira & Masala Music and is now thoroughly enjoying Tibet2Timbuk2, his collaboration with Tenzin Choegyal, Shen Flindell and friends.

The CD “Music is Life” features Marcello’s song Little Things.  Beautiful Girl / Bhumo Zhema and Jhi Chung are examples of Marcello’s collaborative songwriting with Tenzin, while in Music Is Life / Menfanh he collaborates with Guinean musician Lansana Camara.

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Shen Flindell started learning tabla in Melbourne from Sri Debapriya Bhattacharya in 1994 and soon went to the holy city of Varanasi in India to study under Pt. Kaviraj Ashutosh (“Ashu Babu”) Bhattacharya, a great tabla master of the Benares Gharana and senior disciple of the legendary Pt. Kanthe Maharaj. Since then he has become a well-known figure in Indian classical and world music circles, not just in Australia but also in Japan and of course Varanasi, India.

Since the first EthnoSuperLounge concert in 1998 (also featuring Tibet2Timbuk2 cohort Tenzin Choegyal), Shen has facilitated many successful cross-cultural collaborations, of which the latest is Tibet2Timbuk2. EthnoSuperLounge is all about union and transcendence through music and with Shen’s clear, beautiful tabla sound, his easy grooves and intuitive accompaniment there is always a free-spirited and open communication between all concerned.

Crane Song, Tso Marpo and Lotus Born feature tabla solos by Shen.

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Lansana Camara (Sana) comes from a Griot family in Guinea, West Africa. Charged with the responsibility of carrying on his people’s culture and identity, he performs on kora, balafon, djembe and of course vocal. As a guest artist in Tibet2Timbuk2, he performs with kora and vocal. His beautiful voice and kora put a smile on everyone’s face and contribute a lovely rolling groove, wrapping up the Tibet2Timbuk2 journey in West African style.

In Music Is Life/Menfanh, the finale track on the “Music is Life” CD, Sana sings of his beautiful village in Guinea where he used to play music by the river in the evening.

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Taro Terahara is one of the leading musicians in the thriving and highly competitive Indian classical music scene in Japan. His beautiful bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) soars, swoops and transports listeners to realms of pure sound, both engaging the mind and touching the heart. He first appeared in Tibet2Timbuk2 as a guest artist on his first ever Australian tour in 2006, where he was also one of the hits of the Woodford Folk Festival with his wonderful Indian classical bansuri, including the New Year’s Dawn Hilltop Concert.

Beautiful Girl and the award-winning Crane Song feature bansuri by Taro.

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Peter Hunt is a singer, trumpet player and composer. He often plays by the river and on the street raising his point of view to and through one of song and dance. He harmonises with a diversity of musicians and has a gift for translating feeling into melody. He writes and plays with jazz-reggae groups kooii and ruby blue.

Peter plays trumpet on 3 tracks on “Music is Life” – Lotus Born, Little Things and Dawey Wola.

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Asim Gorashi is a musician who has traveled the long winding road that has earned him a unique background both as an educator and artist. A multi instrumentalist, Asim plays not only Oud and violin, he also sings and plays keyboards, the Arabic lute, Sudanese traditional guitar, mandolin as well as viola, and is one of the sweetest whistlers around. Asim Gorashi is a founding member of the band Sudanese Sound; he has also played in the band of Sudan’s best-loved singer, folk hero and revolutionary Mohammed Al-Amin. He now lives permanently in Brisbane where he is doing his post graduate studies.

Asim has performed with Tibet2Timbuk2 on numerous occasions, notably at Brisbane City Hall’s Main Auditorium in June 2008.

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Menaka Visvanathan is a young local artiste who started learning classical Indian music from a tender age of 5 in the Sri Krishna Music Academy in Brisbane under the tutelage of her mother and principal of the school, Mrs. Vijaya Visvanathan. Through the music her mother has imparted to her, Menaka has experienced the beauty of divine love and surrender and endeavours to share these experiences with others through her vocal music. Menaka is also an exponent of Bharata- Natyam, or south Indian classical dance, graduating from this divine art in 2004. She has sung and danced at many community events, including Woodford Folk Festival, Sacred Music Festival, numerous charity events and has collaborated with many artistes, including Tenzin Choegyal.

Menaka has performed with Tibet2Timbuk2 on numerous occasions, notably at the CD Launch of “Music is Life” at Brisbane Powerhouse, 15th November 2008.

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Cieavash Arean has dedicated his life to music for more than forty years. His passion and love of music has attracted a strong audience in recent years. A multi-instrumentalist to say the least, the list of instruments that Cieavash performs include – Barbat (Oud), Kamanche, Nay, Tar, Flute, Accordion, Daff and Zorna. Cieavash is also a well accomplished vocalist.

Born in Tehran, Iran Cieavash has a love for traditional Middle Eastern music. These include – Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Armenian. He is self taught and plays by ear. Cieavash has performed all over the country, most recently, Woodford Folk Festival, Qld Multicultural Festival, Brisbane Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival and Brisbane Powerhouse. Whether it’s a live performance or working on music for a film, you can be sure than his heart is in every performance.

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