Kanta dAb dAb’s debut album launched

KATHMANDU, Feb 4: Nepali fusion band Kanta dAb dAb’s debut album of the same name was launched at Alliance Française de Kathmandu in Teku on Wednesday. The Sitar-Bass-Percussion trio’s album was launched exclusively on a 4GB flash drive—the first in Nepal—instead of the traditional CD. The pen drive includes tracks in both MP3 and Wav format, photos, and bonus videos along with a presentation of ‘Musicians for Musicians’—the band’s socio-cultural project for the promotion and preservation of the now endangered heritage of traditional Nepali music.   

Formed two years ago with Sunit Kansakar on sitar, Rizu Tuladhar on bass, and Nikhil Tuladhar on percussion, ‘Kanta dAb dAb’ features fusion grooves with a blend of Eastern and Western music sensibilities. The music has been composed, mixed and arranged by the band members themselves.

The function on Wednesday started with the lighting up of 250 diyos to illuminate a giant dAb dAb shaped Mandala made by visual artists Prabal Bikram Shah and Neeraj Chakradhar. The band also enthralled the 300+ strong crowd comprising musicians, local and international music lovers, and representatives of various diplomatic missions with an hour of live performance of fusion grooves.

“The debut album of Kanta dAb dAb offers a completely new sound from Nepal that brings fusion into new dimension,” Finnish musician Vilma Timonen has been quoted as saying in the press statement. Timonen has been involved with the Nepal Music Center or more than two years.  
The band is scheduled to tour Europe in June and July this year. Among other venues, Kanta dAb dAb will play in two festivals in Germany and has been scheduled to perform in the main arena of Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in Finland, one of Europe’s biggest folk music festivals.

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