The group has an expansive musical background. Tabla master Badal Roy was instrumental in bringing the sound of tabla to the jazz idiom and has recorded and performed with Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Mann, John McLaughlin and Ornette Coleman. Ken Wessel was a member of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time from 1988 - 2000 and can be heard on Coleman's acclaimed Tone Dialing. He has also worked with Arthur Prysock, David Leibman, and slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya. Stomu Takeishi, a ubiquitous fixture in New York City's downtown scene, has performed with Henry Threadgill as well as with Cuong Vu, Myra Melford, and Paul Motian.
Badal and Ken met in Ornette's band and started Alankar with bassist Stomu Takeishi over 10 years ago. Employing some ideas from Ornette's harmolodics, with elements of jazz and Indian raga, Alankar has managed to forge a truly unique and compelling sound over the years. Guests who have played with the trio include trombonist, Steve Turre, bansuri master, Steve Gorn, saxophonists Tim Ries and Billy Drewes, santur player Tarun Bhattacharya and others.
Guitar Player magazine called their CD, Daybreak, “...sublime beauty can be powerful too, and in that sense, this is one of the finer power trio discs in recent memory." The band has been performing to enthusiastic houses both in clubs, festivals and concert halls.
On any given night, Satalla's 200-seats are filled with fans of African, Brazilian, Celtic, Arabic and dozens of other musical styles from around the globe. The audiences who gather at the cavernous Flatiron-district space come not only for world music, but to witness singer-songwriter, folk and blues performances as well, while enjoying a full kitchen serving American cuisine and a bar serving alcoholic cocktails as exotic as the club's musical ones.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
