Colors of Jog — Live Performance by an Indian Classical Fusion Ensemble

This was part of a concert I helped organize on July 25, 2026, at Café Istanbul in New Orleans. The project centered around Kolkata-based tabla master Dipak Chakraborty's first visit to New Orleans, which lasted two weeks. The other featured musicians were Biplab Samadder (violin) and Chethan Anant (bansuri and vocals), who flew in for shorter stays, allowing these three musicians to meet and practice together for the first time ever the day before the performance. My friend Matthew Shilling also joined the ensemble on this set, playing bass in addition to his role as sound engineer. I, Tom Cowan, joined them in a supporting role on hand pan and mixed percussion for this final set, which was a fusion-based interpretation of Raag Jog. As expected, this popular Indian raga was ideal for the nighttime ambience at Café Istanbul. The piece was almost entirely improvised, yet structured in its movement through a variety of phases, with each instrument contributing to the evolving musical textures and gradual build toward a powerful crescendo. This was an exciting project to be part of, and I simply want to thank the musicians involved, as well as the friends who offered logistical support, and of course, the local audience members and supporters of Indian music from across the world!