Music OnLine : Classics : tabla

Neji combine a classical string quartet with an acoustic trio who play flute, saxophone, tabla, classical guitar, violins, viola and cello. Their musical inspiration follows the silk route with stops in Tuva, South India, Turkey, China, and Pakistan. Classical modes commingle with the Orient in a mystical musical venture.

Mixing genres like a cosmopolitan chef uses spices, Les Pires add a little Ragtime on banjo, swinging jazz through brass, gypsy-singing violins, and Indian tabla drums. Rhythms stem from points east and the south of France.

Merging Eastern melodies with Western electronic standards, this flavorful blend follows in the tradition of acts such as Deep Forest, Talvin Singh and Banco de Gaia. Sounds from the tabla and sitar propel a multicultural mix of subtle samples and hypnotic rhythms.

This cousin of the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan possesses a similar soaring presence in his ecstatic vocal gyrations. Tabla drums circle dance beats and funky basslines in remixes that transmute the vocals into a psychedelic lattice of vocal sustains.

Although she employs her Indian heritage in her percussion (mainly tabla), this singer-songwriter is firmly grounded in Western forms. Her music blends Trip-Hop with the type of vulnerable emoting often found in today's female pop singers. There's an undeniable sincerity in her voice.

DXT craft darkly eclectic sound collages. Somnambulistic hip-hop grooves gradually swell to dreamy, surrealistic orchestral textures; Jungle-derived breakbeats lurch along at a lopsided, off-kilter pace, while ominous Dub rhythms incorporate dramatic synth-organ passages and tabla accompaniment.

Nass Marrakech play a traditional style of music called leila gnawa that uses its trance-inducing power for healing. The bass-like sintir, banjo, tabla drums and metal clackers establish a rhythm that gradually accelerates to the point of ecstatic release.

Known for his skillful playing of the surbahar, the bass sitar, and the sitar, Jagdeep Singh Bedi performs solo and also with tabla, tamboura and the bansuri bamboo flute. More weighty than standard music, his group performances feature inspired, spontaneous-sounding musicianship.

McLachlan's atmospheric song construction and ethereal voice provide a perfect sonic canvas for many a DJ. Talvin Singh adds his tabla and hints of the east to "Answer"; Thievery Corporation merge perfectly into "Dirty Little Secret"; and Will-I-Am from the Black Eyed Peas makes "Just Like Me" his own.

Psy-trance can cause the brain to spin like a pinwheel -- it's fast, hard and totally trippy. But Electro Illusion offer more than just synthetic highs: on Project X they merge organic themes with angelic vocals ("Cosmic Mother Shine") plus real tabla and sitar ("Svadhisthana").

Najma grew up speaking English, but later learned Urdu and has become an excellent singer of the short, romantic poetry singing known as Ghazal. Her serpentine voice has an astounding range and owes a great debt to Indian film singers, while her music incorporates western sounds with traditional tabla and other Indian instruments.

Continuo, aka Victor Friedburg, is most famous for taking the Pachelbel Canon - a piece of music that's seen more use in lightbulb commercials than your mother - and did it, quite literally, to death. Hip hop beats, tabla, gamelan - the Canon is run through every possible ethnic wringer and then some. But the Baroque feel persists. Ideal for fans of Enigma's work with Gregorian chants.

Pharoah's Daughter are a Jewish folk ensemble heavily influenced by Eastern European Klezmer, Middle Eastern Jewish music, and jazz (Pharoah is a nod to jazz saxophonist Pharoah Saunders). The project is largely a byproduct of singer Baysa Schechter's multicultural upbringing, which is acknowledged in instruments such as oud, tabla and dumbek, as well in her graceful, haunting vocals, which are sung in Yiddish and Hebrew.

Vegas-area emcee delivers next-level lyricism set to original, unorthodox tracks. Indian tabla beats back unconventional Soul loops one minute, and watery Electro-bass and demented synths the next. Verses are rapid-fire and intricate: "I snatch down lyrical jaws and fix mental flaws / With ejaculated lyrics from my esophical walls / And if you want to folly understand the lyrics I spit / I can't explain it cuz I ain't sayin' sh*t!"

Dutz has done time in plenty of L.A. studios, but his associations with Vinny Golia, Nels Cline and others among that city's avant jazz scene are more telling. His works occupy an imaginary jazz-world music turf, hallmarked by his softly textured and often melodic playing on marimba, tabla, rain sticks, and numerous other percussion instruments.

Anand is an adventurous member of Bollywood's young crop of music directors. He certainly takes his cues from artisst like Anu Malik and A.R. Rahman, but there's a sense of playfulness that can elude those directors. (Would Rahman ever write a song with the refrain "Take a chill pill"?) Hip-hop, tabla, pop and blues harmonica can all fit into a single Anand song, but he also has a love for Indian folk and Arabic pop that makes for fresh, grounded compositions.

A beautiful combination of Iranian and Indian musical styles fuse in these compositions utilizing the romantic song form known as Ghazal, for which the band is named. Shujaat Khan, son of legendary Indian musician Vilayat Khan, performs the sitar and sings while Iranian artist Kayhan Kalhour plays the Kamenchech, an ancestor of the violin. With rhythmic accompaniment by tabla virtuoso Swapan Chaudhuri.

JT is no Al Green (or even D'Angelo), but his vocal performance on Futuresex is panting and seductive. But more than just the usual collection of hyper-sexualized pop songs, this is a gorgeous, unified album and producer Timbaland deserves much of the credit. His rhythms-on-'roids backdrops are crunchy and addictive, but they're also nuanced enough so that each track has a hidden treasure -- a rattling tabla here, a twisting violin quote there and sudden outbursts of glitch synths throughout. If this indeed is the future of pop, then it's cause for celebration.

JT is no Al Green (or even D'Angelo), but his vocal performance on Futuresex is panting and seductive. But more than just the usual collection of hyper-sexualized pop songs, this is a gorgeous, unified album and producer Timbaland deserves much of the credit. His rhythms-on-'roids backdrops are crunchy and addictive, but they're also nuanced enough so that each track has a hidden treasure -- a rattling tabla here, a twisting violin quote there and sudden outbursts of glitch synths throughout. If this indeed is the future of pop, then it's cause for celebration.

It's hard to praise this album enough. Longtime friend Descemer Bueno wrote a cache of graceful, totally unexpected songs for Milanes, and they suit her perfectly, showcasing her cool, jazzy delivery without bowing to stale Latin pop conventions. Songs like "Tanto Amor" find depth in simplicity, while "Iguapele" and the tabla-infected "El Guije" simply defy categorization.