You will be so grateful that you'll send your undershirt to Detroit, Michigan parcel post. Tabla players from the Benares Gharana. Some pieces are improvised; some composed. Pandit Sharda Sahai helpfully announces his feats of rhythmic genius.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Improvisation: Vilambit Laya
32:50
(16-beat time cycle.)

2. Rare Compositions of Benares: Madhaya Laya
(16-beat time cycle.)
33:33

Tracks 1-2
Pandit Sharda Sahai: Compositions of Benares
Sharda Sahai - tabla, Ramesh Mishra - sarangi lehara [repeating melodic framework]
Audiorec Classics, 766032 1053-2

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

3. Vilambit & Drut Tintal
28:57
(16-beat.)

4. Dadra Tal
11:35
(6-beat.)

Tracks 3-4
Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay - tabla, unknown - harmonium lehara
Ancestors: Art of the Benaras Gharana: Tabla Solo By Pandit Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay
Rageshree Music Institute, CD RMI 112

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

5. Tabla Solo: Teental
47:19
(16-beat.)

6. Folk Melody of Uttar Pradesh: Tal Dadra
4:31
(6-beat.)

Tracks 5-6 (rec. 1998)
Sharda Sahai - tabla, Ramesh Mishra - sarangi lehara, Padma Sahai-Deen - tanpura
Pandit Sharda Sahai: Live in Miami
Pandit Ram Sahai Foundation, n.n.

By popular demand, this week's show has 67% more melody. Tabla players are from the Benares Gharana.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Vineet Vyas: In the Beginning... (Uthaan) (rec. 2005)
Vineet Vyas - tabla, Steve Oda - sarod, Ajay Prasanna - bansuri flute, Murad Ali - sarangi, George Koller - dilruba [sitar/sarangi hybrid], Denise Djokic - cello
Vineet Vyas: TaalWorks
Vineet Vyas, VV01CD
4:00
(Composition in the wonderfully jangly late-night melody of Raga Sohini.)

2. The Art of the Benares Baj (rec. 1983)
Sharda Sahai - tabla, Bob Becker - harmonium lehara [repeating melodic framework]
Audiorec Classics, 766032 1034-2
43:34

3. Raga Malya Maruttam (rec. 2007)
Ronu Majumdar - bansuri flute, Durga Prasad Majumdar - pakhavaj [double-sided drum], Vilas D. Pednekar & Kalpesh Sachla - tanpuras
Ronu Majumdar: Master of the Indian Bansuri
ARC Music, EUCD 2056
17:58
(Playtime = Morning.)

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:30am

4. Raga Miya ki Malhar (rec. 1991)
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt - mohan vina [modified archtop guitar], Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari - tabla
Gathering Rain Clouds
Water Lily Acoustics, WLA-ES-22-CD
25:57
(Rainy season.)

5. Raga Shuddh Sarang
42:17
(Noon.)

Set #3 - 10:30am - 11:00am

6. Raga Multani
23:31
(Late afternoon.)

Tracks 5-6 (rec. 2003)
Kala Ramnath - violin, Kumar Bose - tabla
Kala Ramnath: Luminous
Audiorec Classics, 799032 1057-2

Tala (Rhythm) Month continues through April with South Indian music in 9 1/2-, 8-, 14-, 1-, 6-, and 5-beat time cycles. Don't forget to play those numbers in the Lotto.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Ragam Tanam Pallavi: Ragam Sankarabharanam
28:35
(The intervals of Sankarabharanam happen to match the Western major scale. And you thought everything has been said what could be said in bland ole major! Listen up...)

2. Ragam Tanam Pallavi: Talam: Mahalakshmi Tala - 9 1/2 Beats: Pancha Nadai Pallavi*
31:15
(Ragam Tanam Pallavi is a form in Carnatic (South Indian) music that challenges the musician to show off improvisational skills to the maximum. Shankar, you say? There seems to be some dispute about the merits of this recording.)

Tracks 1-2 (rec. 1989)
Shankar - double violin & vocals; *Zakir Hussain - tabla; *Vikku Vinayakram - ghatam [clay water jug]; Caroline - sruthi [hand-pumped reed organ] & talam [rhythm-keeping?]
Shankar: Pancha Nadai Pallavi
ECM Records, ECM 1407

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

3. Tayambaka (rec. 1996)
Pugatri Divagara Pooduval - solo chenda [cylindrical wooden drum]; Panjal Velukutty & Chelakara Unnikrishnan - treble chenda; Thrikkur Rajan, Thrikkur Anilan & Cherussery Dashan - bass chenda; Thrikkur Gobi, Thrikkur Manikandan & Chelakara Vijayan - ilathalam [cymbals]
Inde: Percussions rituelles du Kerala Vol.2: Tayambaka
Disques VDE-GALLO, CD-972
71:17
("Tayambaka consists of three main sequences and combines composed and improvised elements. Each sequence illustrates the ever-increasing speed of the piece." In successive 8-, 14- and single-beat rhythmic cycles, shaped formally like an arrow.)

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

4. Calypso (6 Beats)
18:04

5. Honeymoon (5 Beats)
11:34

Tracks 4-5
T. H. "Vikku" Vinayakram - ghatam
Moon over the Isles
Padmini Music, PN-109

April is Rhythm (Tala) Month. The show begins with a morning raga. Tabla players are from the Punjab (Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain) and Benares (Vineet Vyas) Gharanas (school, lineage, style).

Set #1 - 8:00am - 9:00am

1. Raga Nat Bhairav (rec. 1992)
Sultan Khan - sarangi, Zakir Hussain - tabla, Rasika Ekbote - tanpura
Live from Savai Gandharva Music Festival, Pune '92
Alurkar Music House, CDAM 113
54:52

Set #2 - 9:00am - 10:00am

2. Tabla Duet in Tintal (rec. 1991)
Alla Rakha - tabla, Zakir Hussain - tabla, Ramesh Mishra - sarangi lehara [repeating melodic framework]
Moment Records, MRCD 1001
67:37

Set #3 - 10:00am - 11:00am

3. Vineet Vyas: Revelations (Peshkaar)
6:37

4. Vineet Vyas: Chalan... A Movement in V Major
8:09

5. Camille Saint-Saëns: Flight of the Swan
6:49

Tracks 3-5 (rec. 2005)
Vineet Vyas - tabla, Steve Oda - sarod, Ajay Prasanna - bansuri flute, Murad Ali - sarangi, George Koller - dilruba [sitar/sarangi hybrid], Denise Djokic - cello
Vineet Vyas: TaalWorks
Vineet Vyas, VV01CD

6. Raga Khammaj - Ragmala - Dhun (rec. 1990)
Amjad Ali Khan - sarod, Zakir Hussain - tabla
Moment Records, MRCD 1005
24:20