Experience the music of ethnic cultures while enjoying music to dance to at the Errington Hall this Saturday night, for the 43rd Hi Neighbour Day Dance.
Tambura Rasa is returning to the hall to play their world fusion music with a focus on Flamenco and Balkan.
“What I love doing with the music is taking different elements from a bunch of different cultural backgrounds and then finding ways to fuse it together,” said guitarist and leader of the group, Ivan Tucakov.
Tucakov has a Serbo-Croatian background, but was raised in Turkey and said his love for multicultural music comes from extensive traveling and being immersed in different cultures.
The music also has Middle Eastern Turkish, Indian classical and gypsy jazz influences, he said. The group plays all original music and sometimes throws in a couple of covers, one a Macedonian traditional song.
The Vancouver-based group has five CDs released, the latest Adsum, was nominated for Best World Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Their 2009 CD Tambura Rasa Beats was also nominated for the same award.
Tucakov has also written a book The Mindful Connection Method and holds workshops and a blog about social dynamics and conflict resolution. He said there is a crossover between his book and his music.
“The music we do actually recognizes the fact that there is different styles of music out there and we need to hear all of those and accept them,” he said. “Being able to understand someone else is to be able to hear where they are coming from.”
Tambura Rasa released their first CD in 2004 and Tucakov said since that time the music has gained more depth. Although the group has always been about trying new things, he said, now they push the boundaries a little bit more as band mates are very comfortable playing together.
But there will be even more changes for the group very soon as the drummer has decided to move out east. Tucakov said they’ve had a wonderful time playing with Trevor Grant and after he leaves, Tucakov will explore a direction he took with earlier CDs, which is bringing atmospheric, ambient compositional elements to the forefront. The music is more for sitting theatre audiences, he said, and he is planning to do a big show in Vancouver in November with a string quartet and a classical pianist.
But in Errington, he said, the group will focus on music to dance to, and will continue to make this type of music as well adding some guest acts on various instruments if shows lend themselves to that, he said.
Don’t miss Tambura Rasa Saturday August 18 at the Errington War Memorial Hall. Tickets are $20, under 12 is $5 and under 5 is free. Doors open at 8:30 and the show starts at 9 p.m. Get tickets from the Errington Store, Cranky Dog Music in Parksville and Heaven on Earth in Qualicum Beach. For more on Tambura Rasa visit www.tamburarasa.ca.