#307 Shawn Mativetsky- Tabalchi, Percussionist, Author, Educator and More!
Photo of Shawn by: Caroline Tabah.
Dynamic performer Shawn Mativetsky is considered one of Canada's leading ambassadors of the tabla, and is a pioneer in bridging the worlds of Western and Indian classical music. Acclaimed as an exceptional soloist and a leading disciple of the renowned Pandit Sharda Sahai, Shawn Mativetsky is highly sought-after as both performer and educator, and is active in the promotion of the tabla and North Indian classical music through lectures, workshops, and performances across Canada and internationally. Based in Montreal, Shawn teaches tabla and percussion at McGill University. His most recent solo tabla album, Rivers, is rooted in the rich traditions of the Benares style of tabla playing. Shawn's new book, RUDIMENTAAL, features compositions for snare drum, inspired by the tabla drumming of North India.
As a practitioner of Indian classical music, Shawn regularly gives solo tabla performances, as well as accompanying kathak dance and instrumental artists. Since 2003, Shawn has been affiliated with the Pandit Ram Sahai Foundation (UK/India), and in the summers of 2006 and 2008, hosted tabla maestro Pandit Sharda Sahai's annual summer tabla workshop. Since 2011, Shawn has been hosting his own annual summer tabla workshop at McGill University. In recent years, he has been working closely with santoor player Jonathan Voyer, sitarist Uwe Neumann, and kathak dancer Sudeshna Maulik.
Shawn has performed numerous recitals around the world, and has been featured in the International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival (Cyprus), Clazz International Music Festival (Italy), Pontio / Music @ Bangor, Vale of Glamorgan Festival (Wales), Shastra Festival, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (USA), Sound Symposium, Windsor Canadian Music Festival, New Music in New Spaces, Groundswell, Western Front, Open Space, VICO's Global Soundscapes Festival, Festival Montréal Baroque, Jusqu’aux Oreilles, Evolutions, Voyages: Montréal-New York, Festival International du Domaine Forget, New Works Calgary, and Music Toronto (Canada). As an ensemble musician, Shawn Mativetsky performs with trio Mativetsky, Amiri & Pagé, violinist Parmela Attariwala's cross-cultural Attar Project, Indo-fusion group Ragleela, very long cat, a tabla / electronic music duo with live coder David Ogborn, the improv trio Of Sound, Mind and Body, with Tim Brady and Helmut Lipsky, and percussion group Ensemble Duniya. A versatile studio musician, Shawn has appeared on albums by Elsiane, Joel Miller, Yann Perreau, Elephant Stone, Suzie Leblanc, Ramachandra Borcar, and Daniel Lavoie. Regular performances with Galitcha have led to concerts across Canada and the US, as well as tours to France and Tunisia, the chance to play with guest musicians such as Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Salil Bhatt, Harry Manx, and Yves Lambert, as well as a performance for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, during their visit to Canada. -More
R.I.P.
Rest in Peace to percussionist and timbalero Robert Vilera.
There is a GoFundMe page that was set up for his hospital bills, which may now be used for his funeral expenses.
There will also be a virtual celebration on Wednesday November 16th.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Josh Kiggans of Ward Hayden and the Outliers.
My general approach is to always serve the song. I try to craft my parts in a way that will showcase the strength of a tune. Sometimes that means fast and loud and sometimes that means slow, low, or nothing at all. With social media there seems to be a lot of focus on over the top playing and a lot of notes but if you really dive into who’s working with a wide range of artists, whether live or in studio, you start to notice the common thread of “playing the song”. To me that’s the highest compliment you can get as a musician. In my playing and in crafting the parts for this record I really was striving to always put the song first. -More
Gig Alerts
P!NK and Brandi Carlisle are going on tour!
Alice @ 97.3 presents Alice In Winterland, Friday, December 2nd, 2022 at SAP Center.
Tickets on sale at Ticketmaster now!
Educational Spotlight
Damon goes through a PASIC recap. You can go to the PAS (Percussive Arts Society) social media pages for highights.
There are also Virtual PASIC events coming up on November 18th.
Product Review
Andy Narell was demonstrating his new steel pan plugin for all your music creation needs.
Iconic Recording
Shawn picked the iconic recording for the week by his guru Pandit Sharda Sahai. The album is ‘The Art of the Benares Baj’ and the song Damon chose is “Extal - High Speed”
Music News
The Grammy nominations list is out now. Damon played percussion on Randy Rainbow’s album, which is nominated in the comedy category.
Lorde Details the Harsh Reality of Touring in 2022: ‘Things Are at an Almost Unprecedented Level of Difficulty’ -Article
Damon recommends checking out the instagram page, @igmusicpartners so you can keep up to date with the changes in the algorithms and learn other tips and tricks as a musician navigating the Meta platform.
Shawn Mativetsky Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Madhya Laya Teentaal” by Shawn from his album ‘Rivers’.
Damon and Shawn were talking in Damon’s hotel room during this year’s PASIC that just happened.
Damon and Shawn met during a week of masterclasses and performances with Payton MacDonald’s group called Super Marimba which also included (friend of the show) Mark Stone on the Array Mbira.
Shawn talks about his new book, RUDIMENTAAL is a collection of rudimental snare drum pieces inspired by the tabla drumming of North India – a gateway into North Indian drumming for drummers and percussionists from all backgrounds. In addition to the pieces contained in this text, are explanations of the solo tabla form and the repertoire of which it is comprised, along with exercises and études in order to further develop one's understanding of the compositional forms, rhythmic devices, and performance practices of this rich musical tradition.
You can see one of the etudes below, demonstrated by Dr. Doug Perkins, Associate Professor of Percussion and Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Michigan.
Shawn talks about the series of YouTube videos that accompany his book.
Shawn started on drums, flirted with Tuba and went back to drums. He also explains how this works in the Canadian school system.
The fusion recording he mentions that introduced him to Tabla was “Mantra” by Bill Laswell from the ‘Material’ album performed by the group, Hallucination Engine.
Shout-out to Payton MacDonald for helping Shawn continue his tabla studies with none other than the great Bob Becker.
Shawn talks about his studies with his guru (featured in this week’s iconic reording).
Shawn mentions some of his grants for study that he procured.
Shawn talks about some of the traditions involved in learning the Tabla.
The school in London Shawn mentions is PRSSV Institute of Performing Arts and Heritage.
Shout-out to Dr. Frances Shepherd, a co-founder of the school.
Shawn talks a bit about the lineage of the style of Tabla he studied.
Shawn goes into detail to explain the six different Gharanas (styles) of North Indian Tabla.
Shawn talks about the Pakhawaj and it’s relationship to the Tabla.
Friend of the show, Nate Werth, talked about some South Indian percussion instruments and the popular vocalization called Konnakol. Shawn points out the North Indian vocalization is called Bol.
Damon mentions the drum and Konnakol mash up videos, like THIS ONE.
Shawn and Damon talk about the vocabulary of complex drumming.
The song leading out of the interview is “Three Pillars of the Ghost People” by Super Marimba.
