HANDSTOGETHER
the music of Daniel Bath
Gig Reviews
from the Halifax Evening Courier:
From http://www.thepublicreviews.com by Laura Stimpson:
"I arrived at Square Chapel not really knowing what to expect from the cross-cultural music making on offer from Daniel Bath and Shahbaz Hussain in concert.
Daniel Bath is a multi-talented musician, known in the local area for his inspirational work with young people, he has a keen interest in religious music from various cultures. It is this music that is in abundance tonight.
The audience gave both performers a warm welcome as they precariously arrived on stage. They just managed to fit cross legged on the platform that had been erected for the performance which is typical of Indian music performances.
Bath spoke freely to the audience, making them feel welcome and putting them at ease. He then opened the performance, playing the guitar and singing the poem “What do you think will happen?” This was an insight into what was to come, with some nice chord sequences on guitar. It was very sensitively played with some well-shaped melodic writing.
Shahbaz Hussain was then introduced, the virtuosic Tabla player for the evening. He was clearly there to enjoy himself, and showed exceptional skill throughout the evening.
The concert moved on to a rhythmic introduction on the Tabla, with cyclic Tala patterns interspersed with some fantastic improvisations in “House of God”.
We were then treated to a world premiere, built around the famous Raga Charukeshi, although normally played in the morning, this worked equally as well in the evening. It showed a good understanding of the intricacies of Raga from Bath and Hussain.
For me the highlights of the evening were the beautiful sensitive pieces such as “The Potion”, as well as the exciting, rhythmical pieces which had the ability to take my breath away.
As an extremely well trained musician, Bath had investigated the link between Raga and Gregorian chant, and we were treated to this fusion a number of times in the evening, it worked extremely well, and was enjoyed by the audience.
The second half opened with a Serbo-Croat Bosnian song from the Sufi strand of Islam, with the Muslim prayer really adding a reverence to the evening.
At times some of the pieces seemed a little similar, but overall this was an extremely enjoyable, soothing, evening of music. The set finished with more Indian prayer, Gregorian chant and the final piece “Your Love Makes Me Dance”.
The encore ‘Jewels from the sky’ encapsulated a very nice evening. Thank you Daniel and Shahbaz, with your Harmonium, Guitar, Tabla playing and singing you fulfilled a curiosity of how the fusion would work, it worked extremely well. A great musical experience for all."
From the Todmorden News:
