ABOUT
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.