Tambura Rasa Story:
Balkan Flamenco Fusion! Enter into a world that is akin to a carnival set slightly askew; a vision of film noir Black Cat, White Cat, set against a background of environmental crusaders and urban gardeners. The 70's gone wrong, or right.... Sunglasses, leather vests, incense, and a sense of fashion that has to be seen to be believed. Flamenco dancers full of haughty allure and sensual Belly and Samba dancers weave across the stage for their most spectacular shows.
Ivan Tucakov, the ringleader with a guitar and chief instigator of non-stop laughter on the road, comes from a Serbo-Croatian background, but was raised in the cultural myriad of Turkey, a melting pot for global culture. Ivan is flanked by his counterpart Michael Fraser, a gypsy rockstar on the fiddle with a passion for flavor. These two fine looking fellows are backed by Trevor Grant, a jazz rock drummer, John Bews, a bass player who is one of the coolest cats around with a wit so sharp it hurts, and Robin Layne a globe trotting mad hatter percussionist who is known to bust a few lady killing dance moves when inclined. This is not your average rhythm section, folks. These guys can cook up some spicy food that will have you sweating in no time. In fact, they can often be found brewing turkish coffee at the side of the road to keep up their energy between gigs.
Musically, think dark chocolate with cayenne. A little bitter, a little spicy and sweet, but oh so addictive.
Tambura Rasa’s passion is blending a variety of cultural styles, mainly from the Mediterranean, with a contemporary edge. Some of these mainly include music from the Balkans, Spanish Flamenco, Gypsy-Jazz and Middle-Eastern. They branch beyond these limits and touch upon some African, Cuban, Brazilian and even Indian Classical genres. Tambura Rasa loves to explore and support their audience to experience different world music and dances in new ways.
Global in its reach, Tambura Rasa has become BC’s favorite caravan of vivacious globalistas, filling everything from intimate soft-seat theatre shows, large dance filled festivals to hip urban clubs in attempt to bring dance, joy and vigor to the world around them.
Their last two releases, “Tambura Rasa Beats” and “Adsum” were both nominated for the “Western Canadian Music Award” Best World Recordings of the Year consecutively in 2010 and 2011.
Tambura Rasa blends genres and cultures from every continent on three powerful albums starting with the release of “Sunrise on a New World” in 2004. In 2006, the band followed that CD up with ‘Viaje’ (Journey) and then with the latest project in 2008, ‘Kamanala’ (Sanskrit for Fire of Love). The famous lounge compilation ‘Café del Mar’ (vol XIII and XVI) released Electronic mixes of two of their songs, Cinnabar and Gypsy Love from the 2009 ‘Tambura Rasa Beats’ collection and hit world music charts and air-waves all around the planet. The new CD “Adsum” was released in 2011. |
