 Sankaran has a sensuous, supple voice...her sense of phrasing, expression and tone are immaculate.
Toronto's Autorickshaw is one of those groups beloved by Queen East hipsters, CBC producers and Canada Council types. But behind all the multi-culti hype and global village platitudes lie some serious musical chops.
Like the subcontinental taxi that is their namesake, the group takes audiences on a sometimes bumpy but always exhilarating musical journey, twisting and turning through Indian classical forms, straight-ahead jazz, Bollywood pop and downtown club beats.
Autorickshaw has played jazz, folk and world music festivals from Vancouver to Stockholm, and their live performances have gained a reputation for soulful intensity.
Sankaran has a sensuous, supple voice...her sense of phrasing, expression and tone are immaculate.
Her artistic pedigree is impressive. Her father is Trichy Sankaran, the respected classical Indian music scholar and percussion master, who had performed with the group in an 8 p.m. concert in the same church.
The graceful South Indian folk song Manju Nihar and the tea-and-oranges perfumed cover of Leonard Cohen's Bird on a Wire were both standouts, and her singing was able to shine unimpeded in the Mingus tune Goodbye Porkpie Hat, set to thoughtful lyrics by Joni Mitchell, which Sankaran performed as a duet with her bassist.
-Natasha Gauthier, The Ottawa Citizen  |
