In 2021, Anita Katakkar was invited to play at the Women
From Space festival and it was there that she met Kayla
Milmine. After this, Kayla and Anita played together for
the radio play 'Music and the Shadow People' by bassist
William Parker. The music provided for this play was
largely improvised and inspired by the script. It is
through this experience the duet ‘Amrita’ was formed in
late 2022. Amrita can be translated to mean nectar of
immortality, in Sanskrit.
Rooted in North Indian classical music and modal jazz,
their sound blends intricate rhythms, thematic melodies,
and spontaneous improvisation. Amrita’s music is shaped
by a shared love of odd time signatures, expressive
tone, and the interplay of texture and emotion. Soprano
saxophone supports the many tones and intricate rhythms
that can be produced by a tabla (higher pitched drum)
and baya (lower pitched drum). In turn the frequencies
of the tabla and baya create a welcoming sonic space for
Kayla’s sax.
Amrita has performed in multiple venues in the Greater
Toronto Area. Performance highlights include: the
Indo-Jazz festival at Small World Music, opening for
Shantanu Bhattacharya at Yorkwoods Library in Rexdale
and the All That Jazz Festival in St. Jacobs.
Amrita will release their debut album on May 14, 2026.
The album is produced by Grammy Award–winning producer
Justin Gray. This project is generously supported by the
Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and Canada
Council for the Arts.
Kayla Milmine earned a Bachelor of Applied Music in
jazz performance from Concordia University in
Montreal, before moving to Toronto in 2014. She has
toured, recorded, and performed over the past 15 years
as a soprano saxophonist.
Kayla loves the new and under-explored sonic
possibilities that only the soprano saxophone can
offer. Her unique approach has the edginess and
brashness of Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell yet
also a warmth and thoughtfulness reminiscent of Steve
Lacy. In 2019, Milmine released a solo album called
‘Straight Horn Magick’; a mixture of field recordings
and solo soprano saxophone improvisations, followed by
another solo album she released in 2022 called ‘Moods
of Yellow’. She plays regularly in trio form with
vocalist/dancer Susanna Hood, and pianist Tania Gill,
and in duo form with pianist Diane Roblin in their
project called ‘Ladyfinger’. In February 2019, she was
invited to record with celebrated bassist, William
Parker in a chamber-improv sextet in NY, where she
often travels to study with mentor/collaborator, Sam
Newsome. She is a co-founder of the Women From Space
Festival in Toronto.
Anita Katakkar studied tabla in Toronto with composer
and musician Ritesh Das from 1999-2009. Since then she
has studied in California, Kolkata and Toronto with
the celebrated tabla maestro of the Lucknow tradition,
Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.
With Indo-Scottish roots, Anita’s music represents a
link between her heritage and community. Anita is a
composer and musician with a focus on North Indian
tabla. Her career began with the Toronto Tabla
Ensemble from 2001 to 2009. After this, she formed a
solo project under her nickname “Rakkatak” (her last
name spelled backwards), which allowed her to present
tabla compositions using a palette of rhythm, melody,
and ambient textures alongside Toronto musicians.
Through Rakkatak, Anita released an EP and 3 full
length albums, with the latest being Char Taal and a
Raga Rainbow, released in 2021. The Rakkatak song
"Heliosphere”, is the opening to CBC Radio's "Big City
Small World" hosted by Errol Nazareth. Rakkatak songs
have achieved #1 and #2 spots on the National
International earshot charts for community and campus
radio.
