With over 15 years of experience as a composer, performer and recording artist, Anita Katakkar's multi-faceted creativity and downright tabla technique are palpable for audiences attending Rakkatak's live performances. Rakkatak is Anita's solo project where she has teamed up with Toronto's Oriana Barbato (bass), Dino Toledo (guitar) and Lisa Patterson (sax, harmonium and vox) to create an atmospheric backdrop for her work.
With Indian Scottish family roots in multicultural Toronto, Anita's music represents a link between her heritage and community. Since she can remember, bhajan (Indian devotional song), where tabla is the predominant drum, was present in her household. Although Anita's formal musical background encompassed piano lessons during her early years and playing drums through high school, after getting her first tabla set from her parents, Anita realized she needed Eastern musical training. She also sites her multicultural upbringing as having a large impact in her musical taste which includes Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop and Folk Music. In Toronto, she studied tabla with composer and musician Ritesh Das and in California and India with the pre-eminent exponent of the Lucknow style tabla, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.
Anita has performed, toured internationally and recorded with the Toronto Tabla Ensemble and Jeff Martin and has toured nationally with The Tea Party.
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