The Art of Procastination – And Review of Talvin Singh and Niladri Kumar Gig‏

Guest blog by Katie Fabri

So there’s something you want to do – up there in the rafters of your brain, deep down in the bottom of your belly.  You know you want to do it, but you’re not quite sure how to go about it, and how to do it justice.  It’s out of your comfort zone, but you know you want to do it and to make it all real you’ve made an agreement with someone that you will do it.

Everything is in place.  You’ve set out your stall.  You’ve got out all your bits and bobs.  And now, all you need to do is to do it. But something stops you.  You’ve got a mental block – a big old whopping mental block.  Time passes – days, weeks, months, years.  But you don’t do it.  And then you don’t and then you don’t.  And then you still don’t.  Until eventually, the discomfort of not doing it grows so great, you clean your house, every single bit of it.  Clean the skirting boards, wash out the fridge, clean the oven, clear out the cutlery drawer, rearrange the cupboards, alphabetise your recipes, clean the entire house again, and then eventually…. you do it!

My example of this spectacular procrastination is a review I promised to write for The Culture Vulture over 2 years ago.  In my defence, there wasn’t a set deadline and the gig I’d promised to review was so absolutely brilliant, I wasn’t sure I could do it justice.  It was Talvin Singh and Niladri Kumar playing Sitar and Tabla together at Harewood House.  (We’re at the review bit now by the way, thankfully now all that blah blah blah is out of the way).

So Talvin Singh, accomplished Tabla player and Niladri Kumar, virtuoso Sitar player, graced Harewood House with their magical presence on 22^nd May 2009. There was a beautiful buzz in the air before the gig.  I remember multi-coloured chalk drawings of Hindu mandalas drawn on the steps to the 18^th Century family home to the eighth earl, David Lascelles great grandson to King George V and Queen Mary.   These spiritual tools traditionally used to create sacred space and aid meditation set the scene perfectly for a sublime, transcendental musical experience.  Only poetry could get close to expressing some of this with words, so here goes an attempt to capture some of the magic created by Talvin, Niladri and their fellow musicians that night.

8 Finger tips, 2 Thumbs, 2 Hands

Sounds like More

Bellowing into the hollow

Travelling with the boom and the bang

Melodies skin on skin.

8 fingers, 2 elbows, 2 shoulders

Faster than the light from the moon

Stirring rainbow sounds

Haunting vocals invoking souls

Together negotiating revolutions of generations combined.

Thank you The Culture Vulture for picking me to win the competition tickets.  Thank you Harewood House for hosting this in the Gallery filled with Old Master paintings, also witness to this mystical affair.  Thank you Manasamitra for bringing this to Leeds.  And thank you Talvin Singh and Niladri Kumar and fellow musicians.  I hope the review was worth the wait!