Video Discription |
0:00 BANGLA KIRTAN - Pt. Ravi Shankar - SITAR
3:08 BHATIYALI DHUN - Pannalal Ghosh - FLUTE
8:16 RAGA ASAWARI - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan - SAROD
11:38 THUMRI BHAIRVIN - Ustad Vilayat Khan & Ustad Bismillah Khan - SITAR & SHEHNAI
18:37 DHUN PAHADI - Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hari Prasad Chaurasia & Brij Bushan Kabra - SANTOOR, FLUTE AND GUITAR
23:40 PAKHAWAJ: Chautaal - Swami Pagal Das - PAKHAWAJ
28:30 THE RAINS - Orchestral Music Based on Maga Malhar - Vijaya Raghava Rao & Orchestra
33:43 VEENA: MAYAMALAVAGOWLA - Chitti Babu - VEENA
"Indian music is built on Ragas, each with its own character, colour and mood, building up an atmosphere appropriate to the time of day or night, season or occasion. This album of instrumental music is designed to treat listeners to a wide array of Indian melody, ranging from the expositions of our classical Ragas and compositions based on Ragas to traditional folk tunes, incorporating the sounds of a wide range of Indian instruments played by the most illustrious exponents. It is impossible to remain unmoved by the delicate beauty and exquisite textures created by these fine rendering that capture the essence of our music."
.............
MY COMMENTS:
-- Ravi Shankar began performing in the 1930's. This track is from the 1950's. By the late-1960's, Ravi had a huge influence on The Beatles, and especially on his student George Harrison.
-- Bhatiyali Dhun, derived from the folk tradition of Bengal, is about 2 minutes shorter than the original version. It also was on the "Ragamala: Morning to Midnight Ragas, volume 1: Glories of Dawn" tape that I bought from the same store. Unfortunately, I was never able to complete the 12-volume series, and the 6-CD re-issue doesn't include everything... From that album's notes: "Pandit Pannalal Ghosh, the unrivaled master of the flute, was only 48 when he died in 1960. Yet he earned for himself a unique place in the annals of Indian Classical Music. He not only pioneered the introduction of 'gayaki' to woodwind, but also enlarged the scope of the instrument to encompass wider fields of classical form and design. His flute, unique of its kind, was his own creation."
-- Ali Akbar Khan was the son and student of Allauddin Khan. The stature, influence, and historical importance of "Baba" Allauddin Khan, who was also the guru of Ravi Shankar, would be impossible to overstate.
-- The duet by Vilayat Khan & Bismillah Khan is one from their classic 1967 LP. It also was on "Ragamala: Morning to Midnight Ragas, volume 12: Midnight Melodies," which was the 3rd and final tape I bought from this same store! From those notes: "Ustad BISMILLAH Khan is the most outstanding shehnai player in India. He is as popular an artist as any other top-ranking vocalist or instrumentalist. Bismillah Khan has revolutionized the style of playing shehnai and transformed the folk instrument into a major one, by dint of innovation and craftsmanship. Thus shehnai, with this brilliant artiste has found a distinctive place in the realm of classical Indian music as a major concert-instrument...//... Ustad VILAYAT Khan is an artiste with a rare imaginative vision. Vilayat Khan has been able to carve out a distinctive style on sitar: something different from what Ustad Emdad Khan played, and what his illustrious son -- Vilayat's father -- Estad Enayat Khan displayed. With Vilayat, the correct mood has always been the primary factor and, as with the romantic school of artistes, he has shown his mastery whenever he has found the right mood. With a predominating 'Gayaki ang' style, he is a perfect kheyaliya...//... BHAIRAVI has a "sampoorna" scale, and its rendition is permissible without any time restriction. What is more, like in "Pilu," use is also made of all the 12 notes, which comprise the scale, to create a variety of musical effects in its unfolding. Thereby, it acquires a light classical character..."
-- "Dhun Pahadi," is part of the "Call of the Valley" album, another late-1960's classic with voluminous history and documentation. Best-selling album outside India, Its got a wikipedia article chock full of interesting connections.
-- The Pagal Das pakhawaj (tabla ancestor drum) solo is about 2 minutes shorter than the original, which can be found on YouTube!
-- Vijay Raghav Rao's "The Rains" is part of an album-length suite called "The Rainbow."
-- Despite finding plenty of Chitti Babu, over the years, I've never located an original album with this particular track, or even a streaming version! It is the only example still *missing* from my research results...
.............
Always a fan of Indian Music, because of my mother. We had the Ravi Shankar at Woodstock (1969) album on our shelf, I played it quite a bit as I got older. The film Monterrey Pop (1967) also was a favorite. Ravi's is an amazing performance, and at one point you can see Jimi Hendrix in the audience, biting his lip and shaking his head in ecstasy and awe. Yes, indeed! p81_8KFeIfQ |