Pioneering: Karsh Kale and "One Step Beyond"

We are back from our anniversary trip! I haven't had much time to think about a well-thought out post for today, but spending so much time outdoors in the high desert of Taos, New Mexico had me thinking of pioneers. Everywhere I go, I imagine what the first people in that area, those with the pioneering spirit that set out from the relative comforts of what they had known and ventured forth into the wild in search of something, might have thought as they encountered the wonders that I was seeing. They set out in search of...a new place to live, a new beginning, new horizons, new challenges? For example, as I stood on the edge of the Rio Grande Gorge near Questa, New Mexico, looking over the edge at the Rio Grande River about 800 feet below, I imagined the first people to see that wonder, beginning with the first Native Americans in the area and then the waves of white settlers that came later. What must the first person to see the Grand Canyon must have felt? What might the first people to see the Rocky Mountains have thought gazing up at their majestic peaks? Or, conversely, what about seafarers who happened upon a coastline for the first time, perhaps the first to discover what would become a great bay? I have written elsewhere that one of the casualties of the modern world is the loss of physical frontiers. There are dwindling opportunities for geographical discovery, barring exploration into space and on other planets. What we are left with is exploring our inner frontiers, and the exploration of frontiers of mind, science and arts.

Our artist today is one to whom the word pioneering has been applied. Karsh Kale is an Indian-American musician considered one of the early developers of the Asian Underground genre of music, mixing such music as Indian classical with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music. He was born Uttkarsha Kale in West Bromwich, England and moved to Brooklyn, NY when he was three. He took an early interest in tabla and music in general, spurred by his father who introduced him to traditional Indian classical music, rock and early hip hop. Kale taught himself the tabla, developing his "electric tabla" style. In 2000, he was invited by Bill Laswell to join Tabla Beat Science along with Zakir Hussain, Talvin Singh, Trilok Gurtu and Sultan Khan, and their album Tala Matrix is considered one of the most influential Asian fusion albums to date. About this time, Kale became the first Indian-American to be signed to a solo recording contract in the US, and released his first solo album Realize, with it's "Asian Massive" sound in 2001. He has written music for Bollywood and crossover films, television series such as HBO's True Blood, and with artists such as Sting and Norah Jones. Today's tune, One Step Beyond, appears on Kale's 2001 album Realize.