Autorickshaw Trio, featuring Suba Sankaran, Dylan Bell and Ed Hanley | Part II

Asian Heritage Month Concert 2024
Autorickshaw Trio, featuring Suba Sankaran, Dylan Bell and Ed Hanley | Part II
1. “Purvi Tillana”
Composer: T. S. Bhagavatar (early twentieth century)
Tillana is a compositional form emerging from the dance genre of south India. It is usually fast-paced and rhythmically energetic, and uses south Indian solfege syllables, drum and dance syllables. It is in the melodic mode Purvi, with a rhythm cycle of three beats.
In this tillana, the composer has combined both the vocal solfege and the rhythmic solfege. The seven notes sa ri ga ma pa dha ni correspond to the western solfege do re mi fa sol la ti. Each of the swara syllables comes from the first letters of their respective individual phrases, such as ni from nishada, ri from rishaba, ga from gandhara, and so on.
Furthermore, he points at the evolution of the scale that originated from Vedic chant, with three notes-udhatta, anudhatta and svarita (a note above, a note below, and the middle note)-in the text. He also refers to the powerful Indian mystic syllable OM (the Pranava mantra), the nada, or universal sound.
The rhyming and rhetorical use of the syllable ni that follows the syllabic words, epitomizes the ultimate philosophical and spiritual truth, namely the worship of Brahma, that is, beyond form, shape, religion, etc., and that which is within oneself (Brahma asmi) and not elsewhere.
2.“The Trouble With Hari“
Composer: Gordon Sheard; Lyrics: Andrew Craig, Suba Sankaran
Commissioned by Autorickshaw with the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, this original song speaks of a precocious young girl named Hari, from a south Indian village, who cares more for her pictures and paintings than for following tradition. This is the trouble with Hari, with playful lyrics set to a Brazilian-Hindustani-calypso beat.
3. Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard
Composer: Paul Simon
Additional composition: Ed Hanley, Suba Sankaran, Trichy Sankaran
4. “So The Journey Goes“
Composer: Suba Sankaran
So The Journey Goes is an autobiographical song loosely based in a bluesy south Indian raga (melodic mode) that’s all about discovering one’s identity and celebrating diversity. As the song says, “your mind’s your voice for every choice, so the journey goes!”
All songs arranged by Autorickshaw (Dylan Bell, Ed Hanley, Suba Sankaran)
Event co-organizers: Asian Heritage Month-Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc.; Toronto Public Library; Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto; Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Canadian Photography Society of Toronto; WE Artists’ Group; Social Services Network; Cambridge Food and Wine Society
Asian Heritage Month Festival is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Asian Canadian Artists in Digital Age is funded by Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund