Reviews from Indian Press

SANMAARG (19 Mar 2006)
Japanese artist Yasuhiro Minamizawa astounded everyone with his rendition of Raag Puriya Kalyan on sitar... With him, Australian artist Shen Flindell, giving close accompaniment (saath-sangat) on tabla with complete maturity, made the programme attractive to the ear.

Japan ke kalaakaar Yasuhiro Minamizawa ne sitaar par Raag Puriya Kalyan ki avataaranaa kar sabko achamti kar diyaa... Aapke saath Australia ke kalaakaar Shen Flindell ne table par poorna paripakvataa se saath sangat kar kaaryakram ko karn-priya banaaya.

AMAAR UJAALAA (19 Mar 2006)
Japan's Yasuhiro Minamizawa's fingers bent his sitar's strings and then Australia's Shen Flindell's fingers beat upon the tabla with him. Seeing both of the foreign (videshi) artists' great skill in Indian (desi) arts, we were quite astounded and received quite some enjoyment/bliss.

Japan ke Yasuhiro Minamizawa ne sitaar ke taar par anguliyaan pherin to tablaa par anguliyaan thirakaane ke lie Australia ke Shen Flindell unke saath the.  Donon videshii kalaakaaron ki deshii kalaa men siddhahastaa dekh kuchh achraj kar rahe the to kucch aanand le rahe the.

AMAAR UJAALAA (16 Apr 2006)
Shuji Yamamoto, whether playing Raag Jog or Raag Chandrakauns, carved out both raags with equal authority.  On seeing tabla player Shen Flindell's fingers dancing, the people were struck with wonderment.

Shuji Yamamoto ne chaahe Raag Jog bajaayaa chaahe Chandrakauns donon hi raagon ko samaan adhikaar se sarod par ukeraa. Tablaawaadak Shen Flindell ki ungliyon ki thirakne dekh log aashcharyachakit the.

Comments from Senior Artists

Pt Santosh Mishra and Sri Sangeet Mishra (sarangi - Varanasi, Mumbai)
"Shen is a good musician as well a pure hearted person. He has perfect laya and good understanding for accompaniment, like how to accompany to vocalist compared with an intrumentalist. We had a tour with him in Queenland and feel very comfortable to play with him. He is good in classical as well semi classical music, for which there are very few such tabla players in Australia. He has a good sense of music."

Raka Mukherjee (vocal - Kolkata)
"In my recent Australia concert tour I had an opportunity to have with me Shen Flindell to accompany me on tabla in all the concerts that I performed in Brisbane. I enjoyed singing with Shen and his aesthetic and rhythmic sense combined with the clear sound of the tabla and, sonorous bayan (bass) provided an excellent support to enhance the quality of the concert."

Steve Oda (sarode disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar Khansahib)
"Shen's accompaniment skills have continued to improve since we first met in Byron Bay, Australia in 2007.? I feel that his sensitive style of playing supports and encourages the musicians that he accompanies, and enhances the feeling and development of the raga in every respect.? I highly commend his continuing efforts to share his music with the Indian music community worldwide."

Debapriya-Samanwaya (sitar-vocal duo - Kolkata)
"When everything was fixed in Australia we were a bit tensed about our tabla .players because we never played with none of them even we didn’t know them. However, from the very beginning of the tour we played with some real quality tabla players and of course Shen Flindell was one of them with whom we played a couple of concerts in Brisbane. He was really nice with his charming presence and a very rich musical temperament. The thekas he gave with us were not only very comfortable but also helped us very much to give our best. We have no hesitation to say that we would love to work with him in future again.’

Manose (bansuri - Nepal)
"My best tabala player in Aussieland!"

Comments About Shen From His Peers

(FROM MIXI - Japanese "Social Networking Site" - translated from Japanese)

Junichi Osako (sitar)
Relation: Classmate (meaning same age and field)
Shen is the same age as me and we often play together in India. Not just a musical associate but a caring friend. His beautiful Na, Ge, etc beautifully resound along with his stable laya (timing). His accompaniment makes playing a raga completely dreamily happy.

Tadao Ishihama (sitar)
Relation: Indian music performance partner
He is just Dr. Tabla. His stable rhythm and emotional playing are a must-see! When playing together, he is the player who can give me a calm feeling.

Tetsuya Kaneko (pakhawaj)
It is said that his teacher Pt. Ashutosh Bhattacharya and my teacher's teacher Pt.Amarnath Mishra were the very best of friends. The concert in Varanasi in March 2005 - KYA BAAT HAI !!! His wonderful accompaniment brought vigorous applause.

Keiku (vocal)
Relation: Musical partner
A very open-minded person, totally dedicated and respectful to the sound of tabla, a really lovely person! He's also working very hard to organise various events. A positive person and one who connects other people!

Koki Yoshida
Shen's tabla was really wonderful. Last year he played with me along with Saito-kun in a double-tabla performance, so this was the first time to play together 1-on-1. He is an accompanist who beautifully supports and makes it easy for the lead, raga performer - it feels great!