Below are the guest musicians featured on autorickshaw's CDs, and who perform as guests in concert. Debashis Sinha: Much more than a guest, Deb is the original autorickshaw drummer, and is featured on all three autorickshaw CDs.
Debashis Sinha is a Toronto based percussionist who specializes in the drums of the Arab world, Greece, and Turkey. His ability to uncover the rhythmic threads in a wide variety of musical styles has earned him a place in the forefront of Canada's new generation of traditional musicians. His explorations and studies in technique and rhythm have enabled him to forge a distinct percussive style that makes him in demand with ensembles playing everything from Arabic to Jazz to Yiddish new music, appearing with a veritable “who's who” of Canadian world music experimenters.
A founding member of noted world music ensemble Maza Mezé, Debashis is praised for his musicality and melodic sense, particularly in his accompaniment of Mowashahat, Sufi devotional songs that date back to 12th century Andalucia.
visit Deb's website: debsinha.com
Penderecki String Quartet: The Penderecki String Quartet was formed in Poland in 1986 and has become one of the most celebrated chamber ensembles of their generation. Their recent schedule has included concerts in New York, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Paris, Los Angeles, Atlanta, as well as appearances at international festivals in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Venezuela, and China. The PSQ champions music of our time, performing a wide range of repertoire from Haydn to Zappa as well as premiering over 100 new works to date. Described by Fanfare Magazine as "an ensemble of formidable power and keen musical sensitivity", the PSQ's diverse discography includes the chamber music of Brahms and Shostakovich (Eclectra and Marquis labels) and the recently released Bartok cycle. They enter their 16th year as Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada.
Penderecki String Quartet Website
Dylan Bell: Dylan has had a hand in all three autorickshaw CDs, co-producing, engineering, mixing and playing some bass on our first CD, singing and beatboxing on Four Higher, and mixing and playing Wurlitzer on So The Journey Goes. He is a regular sub on bass.
I studied piano, violin and 'cello as a kid, and according to my Mom, started singing in public when I was three. Things turned in a different direction when I first heard Miles Davis' Kind of Blue at age 16: I sold my 'cello for a Fostex 4-track, took up the electric bass, learned to play mediocre guitar and drums, and started playing and singing jazz.
I went to York University, a great place for budding jacks-of-some-trades, studying piano, bass, and conducting. I also directed a student-run jazz choir there called Wibijazz'n'. I only got a "B" in conducting class though... I missed a final assignment because I was too busy conducting Wibi!
These days, I'm all over the place. For four years, I sang with the Juno-nominated vocal band Cadence. With whatever time is left over I sing with the a cappella all 80s-top-40 group Retrocity (you haven't lived till you've heard "one night in Bangkok" a cappella), and the vocal quartet Hampton Four. I also moonlight as a pianist and bassist, having played with artists from classical violin virtuoso Lara St. John, to subbing in occasionally with my wife Suba's band autorickshaw, even a gig with legendary Canadian rockers Honeymoon Suite. Rock on!
I also work as a producer/engineer, and received a 2006 Juno co-nomination (with mixmeister Adam Messinger) for Engineer of the Year, for the Cadence album Twenty For One.
I'm writing more now as well. I've won a couple of awards for my writing, and just finished co-writing some music for the Canadian channel CTV.
Visit Dylan on myspace
Trichy Sankaran: Trichy Sankaran is featured on So The Journey Goes, playing mrdangam and kanjira, as well as performing solkattu (vocal percussion). He also composed Nalina Kanthi, and is a regular guest in concert. Dr. Trichy Sankaran is a world-renowned percussion virtuoso, Indian music scholar and composer. He has performed at major festivals in India, South-East Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. In his more than 50 years of concert experience in Carnatic music, he has accompanied all top rank artists of India. In addition to his usual traditional settings, he has performed with gamelan, jazz, electronic, African music ensembles, and World Drums. While representing his famous guru Sri Palani Subramania Pillais style, Vidwan Sankaran has given new dimensions to the art of mrdangam, thus making his style traditional yet innovative. He has dedicated himself for the cause and propagation of Carnatic music in North America in various ways as an educator, global artist, composer, and collaborator.
Prof. Trichy Sankaran is the Founding Director of Indian Music Studies and Professor of Music at York University in Toronto, Canada, where he has been teaching since 1971. He has received numerous honours and awards including the degree of Doctorate in Music for his outstanding achievements in the academic and professional fields from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1998. The titles conferred upon him include Talakkalai Arasu (1980), Talavadya Prakasa (1983), Sangeetha Choodamani 1984), Mrdanga Kala Shironmani (1990) to name a few.
Professor Trichy Sankaran is the founder and artistic director of Kalalayam, an institution founded by him in Toronto, Canada for the promotion of the science and techniques of percussive arts. He has trained many South Asian and North American students in the theory and techniques of South Indian drumming.
"Maestro Trichy Sankaran has astounded the audience for decades with his evocative and lyrical style of playing. His ecstatic display of rhythmic virtuosity and aesthetics in mrdangam playing has been the object lessons in percussionists logistics"-Indian Express visit Dr. Sankaran on myspace
John Gzowski John Gzowski is featured on So The Journey Goes (Vara Sapta Swara, Surya and Heavy Traffic) and has performed as a special guest on several concerts. John Gzowski is a musician of many interests. Some were instilled by studying with Alexina Louie, James Tenney, Ann Southam and Trichi Sankaran, to name a few, and some he just developed himself. Originally studying classical guitar, John switched to electric after developing a taste for rock and jazz. He played in many groups in the Queen Street scene in Toronto in the 80’s, most notably the Garbagemen. Around the same time he began playing with some more experimental jazz groups, like Graeme Kirkland’s group, Tom Walsh’s N.O.M.A., Paul Cram’s early groups and doing free improv work across the country. He then started listening to and playing world music’s, performing Romany Gypsy music with the Altin Yildiz Orkestar, South African pop with Siyakha, Greek and Arabic music with Maza Meze, and North Indian flavoured jazz with Tasa, on instruments such as oud, tambouritsa, cumbuc, cello, and mandolin. His work in New Music includes playing with Hemispheres for over 6 years, concerts with New Music Concerts and the Canadian Electronic Ensemble. He has written for Array Music, the Evergreen Club Gamelan Ensemble and Hemisphere’s. An interest in tuning and temperament lead to the building of several instruments designed for higher resolution tunings, including guitars in 19 and 31 tone equal temperament, 31 tone 5 limit just intonation and a study of Harry Partch’s 43 tone just intonation system known as Monophony. He has lead the microtonal group Critical Band, with concerts across North America, and built replica’s of Partch’s instruments for the performance of newly commissioned music and performances of several of Partch’s early works. His theatre work has won him 4 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, two for recorded music and two for live performance. For dance, he has written for Dancemakers, Kaeja D’dance, Kate Alton, Michael Sean Marye and most importantly, for his love, Julia Aplin, using instruments, electronics, bicycle bells, homemade instruments, found sounds, multi speaker systems and anything else he can get his hands on. Lately he has begun study with North Indian Sarod legend Ali Akbar Khan in California, learning how to play North Indian classical music on the electric guitar, and also studying Carnatic music with Mandolin Shrinivas in Chennai. John's website
Hannaford Street Silver Band:
A septet from the HSSB is featured on So The Journey Goes (Aaj Ki Raat), and have performed live with autorickshaw on a number of occassions. Since 1983, The Hannaford Street Silver Band (HSSB), has been striking up the brass band tradition and stirring up critical and popular acclaim. The HSSB is recognized as Canada’s award winning premier professional brass band and is a Resident Company of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.
The HSSB has been regularly featured at such events as, The Festival of the Sound, Westben Summer Music Festival and The Huntsville Festival of the Arts. The HSSB made memorable appearances at The Winnipeg New Music Festival and the Massey Hall New Music Festival. Recent guest conductors include Bramwell Tovey, Gary Kulesha, Lydia Adams, Ormsby Wilkins, Michael Reason, Alex Pauk, Richard Bradshaw, Robert Cooper, Howard Cable, James Curnow, Elmer Iseler, Susan Haig, Robert Childs, Nicholas Childs and Elgar Howarth. In recent years the HSSB is increasingly recognized by an International audience particularly in the United States and England.
Since 1999, the HSSB has sponsored the activities of the Hannaford Youth Band (HYB). Over the years this ensemble has developed a growing reputation for excellence, evolving to include mostly university and some advanced high school players. In January, 2005, the Hannaford Junior Band was formed to give beginning brass students an opportunity to develop their skills. This coming season, in September, 2006, the Hannaford Community Band will commence, filling the “gap”, aimed at high school aged players. Now the Hannaford Youth Education Program offers opportunity for brass players age 10 to 22 to audition for, and participate in one of 3 brass bands, enjoying social interaction, while developing their brass skills and musicianship through rehearsals, concerts, clinics, competitions and more! Adult Education Classes are also run by members of the HSSB.
The HSSB maintains a vigorous commissioning program resulting in new concert works for brass band by such Canadian composers as Malcolm Forsyth, Raymond Luedeke, J. Scott Irvine, Andrew MacDonald, Donald Coakley, John Burge, Roger Bergs, Alex Pauk, Omar Daniel, Charles Cozens, Patrick Cardy, Henry Kucharzyk, Gary Kulesha, Randolph Peters, Jeff Ryan, Scott Good, Larysa Kuzmenko, Douglas Court, Kelly Marie Murphy, Derek Holman and Barbara Croall. One of its recent commissions, Requiem Mass for a Charred Skull by Bramwell Tovey was awarded a 2003 JUNO Award for Best Classical Composition.
The band is heard regularly across Canada, The United States, the UK and Europe on both private and public radio stations. Hannaford's website
Mark McLean: Drummer Mark McLean is featured on So The Journey Goes, and has performed live with autorickshaw on a number of concerts. If you ask Mark McLean about his biggest musical influences, the answer is likely to take more time than you have. Even if you ask for just the ‘main ones’ the list will go on and on. And it is a diverse list; from Johann Sebastian Bach to James Brown (and those are only the ‘B’s)
Mark began his career at age nine as a gifted classical pianist but by age fourteen had started a second career playing the drums. By the time he was eighteen, the drums eclipsed the piano as Mark’s voice for musical expression and it wasn’t long before Mark was playing with fellow Canadian and jazz icon, Oscar Peterson.
In 1998 Mark graduated with honors from The University of Toronto with a Bachelors of Performance in Jazz. It was U of T faculty member Don Thompson who invited him to play on the first of the more than forty recordings on which Mark appears. That summer Mark taught at Canada’s I.M.C. Jazz camp and at the Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute.
Mark moved to New York City in 1999 following receipt of a grant awarded him by the Canada Council of the Arts. He began study with jazz drummer Kenny Washington and was immediately seduced by the drive and energy of the city’s thriving jazz scene. ‘When I got here I was completely overwhelmed but definitely had the feeling that it was the place where I was supposed to be.’
It wasn’t long before Mark’s reputation as a superb musician resulted in a constantly ringing telephone. Singer and pianist Andy Bey was the first to call. Bey describes Mark as ‘an intelligent, immensely talented young musician with a curious mind and a listening ear’. The next call was from saxophonist Dewey Redman and soon there were performances with Diana Krall, Jimmy Webb, Glen Campbell, Carla Cook, Joe Sample, Andy Ezrin, Patti Austin, the Backstreet Boys, Quincy Jones………..the list goes on. Recording highlights include Gladys Knight, Linda Eder, Andy Bey, Molly Johnson, Peter Cincotti, Andrea Bocelli, Serena Ryder, and Jane Bunnett. Said legendary producer Phil Ramone following a recording session with Billy Joel; ‘Mark McLean is a tasty, sure handed drummer, a song man’s musician.’
In addition to critical acclaim by audiences and musicians, Mark has enjoyed the endorsement of Regal Tip Mallets and Brushes, Zildjian Sticks and Cymbals, and Yamaha Drums.
Mark credits his many influences with his ever-developing musical vocabulary. He has tremendous fluidity and fluency in Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Funk, and R & B. He believes that the sum of individual styles represents the whole of human expression. Freedom from the burden of musical categorization enables Mark to fully explore his own voice. Mark's website
Kevin Breit: Guitarist Kevin Breit is featured on So The Journey Goes (So The Journey Goes, Heavy Traffic) and has performed as a special guest on several concerts. Kevin lists recordings and performances with the likes of Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, Susana Baca, Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, Cassandra Wilson, Holly Cole, Jeb Loy Nichols, and Dal Bello, among the varied artists that seek his innovative guitar style. Along with ace Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, the two are currently signed to the prestigious Blue Note label as Supergenerous . Their debut album garnered critical acclaim internationally. Kevin's tremendous prowess on all things stringed, combined with his knowledge of harmony, give him a unique compositional voice. In 2004, he was honoured with the prestigious ‘Musician of the Year' Award from the Toronto Musician's Union . With the Sisters Euclid, he has recorded six CDs, and maintains a weekly residency at the Orbit Room, one of Toronto Canada 's most prestigious jazz clubs. Kevin's website
George Koller: George Koller is featured on Four Higher and So The Journey Goes playing dilruba, and is a regular guest in concert. George has accumulated hundreds of wildly diverse performing and recording credits in his expansive musical career: The Shuffle Demons, Phil Woods, Peter Gabriel, Olivia Newton-John, Loreena McKennitt, Bruce Cockburn, Holly Cole, Ian Tyson, Ian Thomas, Cindy Church, Marc Jordan, Murray Mclaughlin to name only a few. He has performance and/or producer credits on over 500 CDs. George has toured for 11 years with Holly Cole. He has also toured and recorded with Sharlene Wallace, Julie Michels, Gregory Hoskins, David Clayton-Thomas, Eliana Cuevas, Joe Sealy, Carol Welsman, Valdy, Rita Chiarelli and many others. He has produced artists such as Eliana Cuevas, Amanda Martinez, Deanna Knight, Andree Bernard, Julie Michels, Patricia O’Callaghan and The Toronto Tabla Ensemble. Most recently, he has also produced music for Yoga, and Indian Classical music artists.
Recognized primarily as a bass player, George plays a variety of instruments; many featured on his award-winning (HMV “fresh blood” grand prize) solo CD,"Music for Plants, Animals, and Humans". George is continually composing new music (guitar, voice chants). Having written dozens of songs over the years, George is now recording and preparing releases of new material featuring his guitar and vocals. His playing of Indian stringed Instruments: Sitar, Sarode, Tanpura, and the violin-like Esraj and Dilbruba are featured in the motion pictures "Such a long Journey" and "Possible Worlds" and on Loreena McKennitt, Jane Siberry and Bruce Cockburn recordings.
Recent activities include touring Canada with Joe Sealy and Cindy Church, with their recording "The Nearness of You… the Songs of Hoagy Carmichael". He continues to produce concerts and recordings in the jazz, world and Indian Classical music styles, and is composing new east-west fusion music. George on myspace
 Ben Grossman:
Ben Grossman is a vielle à roue player, percussionist, composer and improviser living in Guelph Ontario. Through percussion and his interest in non-equal tuning systems, he became involved at various times in traditional Turkish, Arabic, Irish, Balkan, and French music. In 1997 he studied Turkish music in Istanbul and, since taking up the vielle, has done workshops and lessons with Valentin Clastrier, Matthias Loibner, Maxou Heintzen and Simon Wascher as well as working on Deep Listening and improvisation with Anne Bourne. He has played on over 60 CDs, and performed and recorded with many ensembles over the years. His work can also be heard in TV and film soundtracks, most recently the Patty Jenkins Magz Hall film, Monster. Ben Grossman website
Gordon Sheard: Gordon Sheard has enjoyed a many-faceted career as a professional musician for three decades. During that time he has toured with the bands Manteca, Rick Shadrach Lazar and The Montuno Police, and Montreal bassist Alain Caron's Le Band, among others.
Composition is another important part of Gordon’s musical life; his music may be heard on his 2006 CD Crucible, on two CDs on the Avalon label – Martini Lounge (1998) and Romance of Rio (1997), as well as on recordings by Phil Dwyer, Rick Shadrach Lazar and The Montuno Police, and Manteca. The latter two bands have also called upon his talents as a producer, as have vocal artists Eliana Cuevas, Yvette Tollar and jazz vocalist/pianist Carol Welsman.
In addition to these activities, Gordon has been involved in the production and composition of music for television and radio commercials, films, and audio-visual productions since the late 1980s.
He has also worked extensively as a studio pianist/keyboardist; his work in this capacity may be heard on recordings by Lorraine Segato (formerly of Parachute Club), Rita McNeil, Liona Boyd, Louise Pitre, Eliana Cuevas, Yvette Tollar, Carol Welsman, Brian Hughes, Stan Samole, Levon Ichkhanian, Terry Kelly, and Ron Hines, among many others. Gordon has also performed as a musician in the musical theater and in numerous other live performance situations.
From 1984 to 1987 he toured extensively with fluegelhornist/composer Chuck Mangione in the United States, Canada, South America, and the Caribbean.
In addition to the musicians listed above, Gordon has had the pleasure of performing live with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Steve Gadd, David Garibaldi, Steve Ferrone, Lew Soloff, Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, and Slim Gaillard.
Gordon is currently enrolled in the doctoral programme in ethnomusicology at York University, where his primary area of expertise is Brazilian traditional and popular musics. He is also a jazz educator, and teaches part time at Toronto's Humber College School of Creative and Performing Arts.
Gordon Sheard website
Mark Duggan: Percussionist Mark Duggan has been active in the Canadian music scene for many years as both performer and composer. Working with such artists as pianist Lee Pui Ming, the Evergreen Club Gamelan, the percussion ensemble NEXUS, or his own group Vuja dé, Mark’s versatile blend of contemporary world percussion has impressed audiences from the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Festival de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville, to the Lincoln Center in New York. Mark has performed in a wide spectrum of musical contexts appearing with the Philip Glass Ensemble, the Esprit Orchestra and the Ensemble Intercontemporain de Paris directed by Pierre Boulez. His affinity for the music of Latin America has led him to integrate these influences into his own writing especially with the group Vuja dé. Other projects include several tours of Japan with marimbist Mika Yoshida, performances with Brazilian singer Celso Machado, the Heartbeat world music orchestra, and the cajun dance group “Swamperella”. Mark is a founding member of the Evergreen Club Gamelan (since 1983) which has over the years performed throughout Canada and internationally in Europe, Asia.
Mark Duggan Website
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