Learning solo tabla is an exciting but monumentally difficult task.  Finding a good mentor makes it even a harder proposition. After facing many unnecessary obstacles in learning solo tabla I was close to quitting until I met Randall. He had taken an initiative to make a tabla community in Chicago and I happened to be at the right place at the right time. From the moment I met him I was impressed by his kindness and friendly persona.  He was very knowledgeable and cultured. Since then I have learnt tabla from him for two years on site in Chicago and I continue to do so remotely. Randall teaches solo tabla in a modern relaxed student teacher setting. He is very flexible in his teaching methods and availability. Most importantly, he is very patient with his students and has a great temperament for a tabla mentor. Not only have I learned solo compositions from him, he actively taught me how to tune tabla so that we can easily have remote sessions. He even went far enough to transcribe a complex  chakradhar composition from an old Ustad Allah Rakha Khan YouTube video for me. I owe him greatly for rescuing my passion for learning solo tabla and providing continuous mentorship.

Since the moment I contacted Randall about instrumental for my Bengali wedding ceremony and cocktail hour, he was a pleasure to work with. He has an extensive network of South Asian instrumentalists in Chicago and was able to pull in flutist Sonny Patel to accompany him. During the planning process, Randall took in our feedback about styles of music during the ceremony and provided perfect suggestions to go along with the theme and vibe we were going for. On the day of, he and Sonny seamlessly incorporated instrumental into the ceremony, taking queues from the priest as needed. Many of our guests complimented Randall and Sonny. I highly recommend working with Jamrok Tabla for wedding instrumental needs!