Tassa Thunder (excerpt)

An excerpt from the film Tassa Thunder: Folk Music from India to the Caribbean, by Peter Manuel, which explores diverse Indo-Caribbean music styles, relating them to sources and counterparts in North Indias Bhojpuri region and Indian communities in Fiji. Topics covered include chowtal, chutney, birha, nagara drumming, Ahir dance, the dantal, and especially tassa drumming. The film combines footage taken between 1990 and 2010 in India, Trinidad, Suriname, New York, and Fijian communities in California. Available from the producer at robinmanuel@aol.com, or from amazon.com.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• tassa
• chowtal
• chutney
• birha
• Peter
• Manuel
• Indo-Caribbean

[steelhead522]

Yes, the 'Madrasi' cultural legacy in the Caribbean--including the tappu drumming tradition in Kali/Mariamman worship.-- is important and vital and needs to be recognized and documented. I haven't covered it in my films and publications because I don't know anything about it! :::PM (the producer)

[ryanali78]

Peter call me I lost ur number.. ryan

[soundcheck2k7]

@BoxerMonkey Also, do not let the dark skin fool you, if you go to northeast India (esp. in Bihar and Bengal), there are many dark Indians that can be confused as Madrasis. The culture in Trinidad & Guyana is based off the old Bhojpuri culture, regardless of what the ethnic regional roots are, because Bhojpuri Indians were dominant in population. And tassa in Trinidad is based off of North Indian beats, trust me when I tell you this.

[soundcheck2k7]

@BoxerMonkey Well "veerasami" is purely a Tamil/Madrasi name, but not necessarily "sooknanan" or even "ragunadan". The last two names mentioned are actually spelled somewhat wrong. "Raghu Nanan" is a name that can be found in the North Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and BIhar, so is "Sukh Nanan" and "Ramcharan" and other such names. About 60% of Trini/GT Indians have roots in northeast India, the rest come from Punjab, Pakistan and even as far as Afghanistan (Pathans).

[BoxerMonkey]

why do west indians always seem to dismiss any connection to south india? it just seems to me you always emphasize north indian descent, but i do know my people were also shipped out on the boats to the plantations (i am a tamil).

and i seen trini's and guyanese with tamil last names (veerasami, sooknanan, ragunadan) and we have a drumming style in our countries that is very similar to tassa. check it

watch?v=nWlpzSMfsG0

[ProJIsLaM]

The tasha drum is originally from Iran. It was later brought to India during the Mughal invasion and was primarily used for a shia- muslim commemoration in the month of Muharram. Just clarifying, So Guyanese and Trini's aren't being lied too.

[J81988]

Dam that baby with d Jaal sweet!!

[TNTcalypso]

what kind of idiot only wears a short pant and cutoff jerzee at a weddin?

[tassaman01]

look sunil dnt make joke best tassa drummer i ever came across...

[aronali1122]

where is the 2nd part