it all started in sunny Saskatoon, Saskatchewan CANADA. I always wanted to play the drums, but...my parents had me wait until the age of ten. In the public school system, that was the age that band class started! Also, my dad said that if I wanted to play the drums, I had to learn how to play the tabla. Nothing could get in the way of me playing the drum set. My dad started teaching me tabla. Then my uncle, Amritpal Singh Jabbal, took over...and I began playing tabla in the Gurudawara(holy temple - of the Sikh's) every sunday. I also played drums in Elementary and high school school big band, aswell a all-star zone big band. All of those bands during my years, went on to win The Canadian National Band competition. 4 years in a row, I believe... Anyway, after high school I played in this horrible bar band called "Liquid Flesh" They were really bad! Nice guys...but whew-we stunk. We still got out and gigged, though. I also, played with the local jazz greats of Saskatoon...that was my solace! At the ripe age of 19, I got asked to play with a glorified bar band of Saskatoon..."The Groove Daddies", this was pretty cool, for me...To put things in perspective, my hometown population just recently broke 200,000! Groove Daddies were fun! We played around town almost every night, at all the "cool" hang outs! Eventually, I got bored of that because, they were stuck in bars, in Saskatoon!!!...I was also working as a courier...and seriously considering becoming a big-rig operator. That's when I decided, "I'm going to music school in Los Angeles..." So, I enrolled in "M.I.-gonna make it?" which is Percussion Institute of Technology. This was quite the jump from 20 million miles to nowhere Canada, to downtown Hollywood, or as I became to know it, "HOLLYWEIRD". While at P.I.T. I was very lucky and befriended many of my teachers, before I knew it, I was gigging, and recording!! After P.I.T. I went to further my Tabla studies @ The Ali Akbar Khan College of Music in San Rafael, CA. I learn and always will, from Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri...I left there after six months, er'-no more money! I returned to L.A. to truly begin a career as a professional musician... I have been blessed with the opportunities of playing, recording, and touring the world, and being a "guest" artist with artists I used to only dream of playing with... Some of the Artists: Nikka Costa(don't know who she is? go find out!! she's the real-deal!!!), Bootsy Collins, Hans Zimmer, Aaron Zigman, Seal, Carmen Rizzo, Sting, Michael Landau, Beck, Rick Knowles, Lee Ritenour, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Vai, Michael Brook, Lili Haydn, Macy Gray, Alex Acuna, Mercan Dede, Greek artist Dionesis Savvopolous, Costas Tournas, Shri Aloke Das Gupta, The late Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, and his sons Ustad Shafquat and Sukhawat Ali Khan, D.J. Chebi Sabbah, NIYAZ, Azam Ali, Donna Delory, Slapbak, Jada Pinkett-Smith's Wicked Wisdom, Bitter:Sweet, Soul Shock, Plastilina Mosh, Chocolate Genius, Black Eyed Peas, Vikter Duplaix, Brand-X, Fire Merchants, Jeff Rona, Adam Smalley, Martin Tillman, Trevor Morris, FreakJuice, The Calling, LIT, Gingger, Karsh Kale, BT, and alot more that I will add as my memory refreshes itself... Along the way, I've gotten endorsed by some companies...Zildjian Cymbals, M-Audio, Taye Drums(Canada), Remo Drumheads & world Percussion, and Pro-mark Drumsticks...every now and again Adrian at Puma, takes care of me!! Anyway I'm bored of typing now, as I'm sure you are of reading this...Please check out my project, ALIEN CHATTER, I co-lead this with Jazz Pianist extraordinaire, Rodney Lee!!! Peace, GOD Bless, and remember, to keep your appointments!!
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