August 30, 2021, Mumbai…. Ushering the festive season and expressing a musical connect with the monsoon, World famous Tabla Sensation Anuradha Pal launched an exemplary song & music video called ‘Dancing Rain’, on her YouTube channel www.youtube.com/c/anuradhapaltabla & website www.anuradhapal.com in August 2021. Available for streaming on all major online stores.
Dancing rain is a combination of sonorous vocals, lilting Indian, jazz & orchestral instrumentals, spiced with multi layered, multi-dimensional percussion. Tabla Queen & composer Anuradha Pal has beautifully portrayed the drama & nostalgia of dancing rains, much like the beauty & diversity of Incredible India, its spirituality, culture, dances and music. Anuradha has played over 18 percussion instruments from Africa, Latin America, India and the Far East in a multi-layered, multi-dimensional collaboration with 12 Indian and Jazz Musicians. The exquisite Video footage & superb sound design accentuates the immersive experience of journeying through India, with the rhythms of the ‘Dancing rain’ creating an unparalleled audio-visual experience. It helps us unwind and acknowledge the beauty of nature, as a refreshing take, away from the pandemic.
This video features Bollywood superstar Raveena Tandon and Anuradha Pal portraying the romance of the magical monsoons, dancers presenting Vande Mataram, leading musicians on Jazz Saxophone, Vocals, Bass Guitar, Sitar, Shehnai, Keyboards, Strings, Cajon, Bongo & Sarangi, combined with Anuradha’s fantastic multi percussion and Musical arrangements.
As Anuradha Pal says, “It is indeed an honour for me to be considered among 'The Worlds’ leading classical Tabla players and most innovative percussionists and composers'. I am privileged to have been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana and appreciated as ‘Bharat ki Laxmi’ by Honorable PM Narendra Modi ji. I enjoy accompanying India’s semi-classical, folk & classical musicians and dancers. I am also keen to always expand my horizons and push the boundaries through experimentations, innovations & cross-cultural collaborations. Which is why I present interactive rhythmic stories between the traditional and contemporary, mythology and everyday events in My 'Tabla Jugalbandi with myself and have created 3 distinct bands - Stree Shakti, SuFoRe and Recharge. All these Bands are my humble efforts, to blur the lines & provide equal opportunity to deserving women, folk and classical musicians.
I have always believed that the beautiful language of the Tabla and music itself can convey any phenomena, any situation. Dancing Rain is a collaboration, an extension of my passion and innovation towards the world of music, instruments and sound. Influenced and inspired by nature. It is a showcase of various sounds & percussion beats, replete with beautiful melodic and rhythmic metaphors all together bringing out the romance, the ferocity and the various forms, essence and elements of the magical monsoons, that are intricately connected with the human mind and its expressions. I have especially composed a special Afro- Cuban groove layering this with Tabla, vocal, djembe, Taphon, Udu, kanjira, Pakhwaj, sitar, shehnai, sarangi with modern Jazz Sax, bass guitar, cajon & bongo, to make it richer for cross cultural audiences. I hope like all my earlier Music albums & film scores, ‘DANCING RAIN’ will also resonate with young and discerning audiences across the globe.”
As mentioned by actress Raveena Tandon, “Dancing Rain is a beautiful tribute to our country with subtle nuances in fusion music, using various forms of percussion, all expertly played and composed by Tabla Maestro Anuradha Pal. I wish the team all success for weaving magic with patriotism and music in this monsoon.”
During the lockdown, Anuradha Pal and her team distributed Rs 10 lakh amongst 350 poor musicians and sent food rations and blankets to 250 disadvantaged, old and disabled women & children in villages across 17 states of India. She & her husband Shyam Sharma donated wheelchairs, walkers, masks and gloves to Covid facilities in Mumbai & regularly contribute to Animal welfare and Nation building.
