Near East - CD and Vinyl Release
May 19. 2018
Near East is releasing their debut recording on CD and vinyl. The concert will feature special guests, Syrian clarinetist Majd sekkar - مجد سكر and Turkish qanun virtuoso Tamer Pinarbasi.
Small World Music Centre
180 Shaw Street
Doors open 7:30PM / Show 8PM
Tickets $20 Advance / $25 Door
Tickets available here
Near East
Near East invents their own world-music convention, by bringing together several world music traditions. The Inception of Near East's Music begins in, Maqam and Iqa' of the Middle East and Greece, gives way to the raga and tala concepts of North and South India ultimately evolving into group improvisation. From those foundations, Near East harvests a fresh sound, familiar yet surprising. The roots simply cross - pollinate on their own, evolving without additives, without taking anything away.
Ravi Naimpally
Ravi studied the art of tabla playing in India. Having com- pleted extensive training with his uncle Nikhil Ghosh and also Anindo Chatterjee, Ravi has been an active member of the To ronto world music scene for nearly 20 years. As a vital part of Toronto’s large South Asian community, Ravi continues to perform traditional music from India. In 2011 Ravi’s conti- butions to South Asian culture in Canada were acknowl- edged as he was given the Grant’s Desi Achievers Award. Ravi has had several Juno nominations and is featured on Kiran Alhuwalia’s Juno winning CD Beyond Boundaries. For the last 11 years Ravi has led his own Indo-jazz ensemble Tasa. This group has toured extensively and recorded 4 CD’s of Ravi’s original music. Tasa was awarded an Urban Music Award for Best World Music album. As an educator Ravi brings his expertise in North Indian drumming to children in the Peel district school board through the meet-a-musician program. He also teaches private lessons in tabla at York University and runs an Indo-jazz ensemble at Humber College.
Ernie Tollar
Ernie did his first professional gigs in 1980, and has since performed in Europe, India, Egypt, U.S.A., Mexico, and across Canada. (at the major jazz and folk festivals)While in high school Ernie was a featured performer on CBC's TV show "Going Great" an after school - documentary.hosted by Chris Makepeace.Ernie has been praised extensively by jazz writer Mark Miller (Globe and Recent World Music performances include the Near East Trio w. Ravi Naimpally, Demetri Petsalakis, and Gary Diggins. Other World music with Trichy Sankaran, John Wyre and Bob Becker of Nexus, Greek/Arabic ensembles Maza Mezé and Doula, Tasa, Brenna, MacCrimmon, Mel Mrabet, Aaron Ben Sousan, Rick Shadrach Lazar, and Spare Parts.His various teachers have included:South Asian: Trichy Sankaran, N. Ramani, Arabic (maqam) Alfred Gamil, Ibrahim Kawala, Jazz: Ron Allen, Ted Moses, Pat LaBarbera.
Demetrios Petsalakis
Originally from Athens Greece, Demetri Petsalakis is a Toronto based musician performing in a variety of styles with a focus on Greek and Middle Eastern lutes.
Influenced by the rich cultural diversity of Canada, Demetri incorporates musical elements from different traditions in order to create a contemporary sound that represents both his heritage and the community that he is a part of. An active member of the Toronto world music scene Demetri has recorded and performed with many groups including The New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, Tafel Musik, Ventanas, Near East, Nomadica, Zephyr, Turkuaz, Lenka Lichtenberg and Fray, Odessa Havana, and The Blue Dot.
During his musical studies Demetri has been fortunate to learn from many great teachers including oud masters Basam Bishara, and Christos Tsiamoulis as well as master of the Cretan Lyra Astrinos Zaharioudakis and renowned jazz guitarist Lorne Lofsky.
