03 March 2010

You can hybridize pea plants, roses, and musics. Tune in for Indian-Arab-Persian convergence.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 10:00am

1. Raga Miyan ki Todi (rec. 1988)
Imrat Khan - surbahar [bass sitar], Vajahat Khan - tanpura
Nimbus Records, NI 5153
38:14
(The North Indian equivalent to Grieg's sunrise from Peer Gynt, only way more subtle. The basic scale of the morning raga Todi: C Db Eb F# G Ab B emerges from the darkness, and as the sun rises in the sky, the note G begins to shine metaphorically?/symbolically? in the upper register.)

2. Saltanah (rec. 1994)
Simon Shaheen - ud & violin, Vishna Mohan Bhatt - mohan vina [modified archtop guitar], Ronu Majumdar - bansuri flute, Sangeeta Shankar - violin
Water Lily Acoustics, WLA-ES-51-CD
67:49
(The whole album. A blending of Hindustani raga and Arab maqam takes you through a whole day, from dawn to dusk.)

Set #2 - 10:00am - 11:00am

3. Raga Hemavati (rec. 1990)
Amjad Ali Khan - sarod, Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari - tabla, Asawari Pawar - tanpura
Touch of Class
Audiorec Records, ACCD 1009
22:48
(An "odd" melancholy raga, originally from the South, adopted by North Indian musicians. Some Persian influence may be afoot. Scale: C D Eb F# G A Bb doesn't fit neatly into any theoretical models.)

4. Traces of the Beloved (rec. 1998)
Kayhan Kalhor - kamancheh [spike fiddle], Shujaat Hussain Khan - sitar & voice, Rafiuddin Sabri - tabla
Ghazal: As Night Falls on the Silk Road: Persian & Indian Improvisations
Shanachie, 66011
27:06
(That's a kamancheh -->)

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