The sax and violins episode, or Classical Indian music played on adopted Western-European instruments.

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

*1. Entharo: [Raga] Sree
12:21

†2. Raga Malkauns
46:21
(I won't go on and on about this, but you are cognizant of my views on Malkauns.)

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

3. Ragamalika (Medley of Ragas)
Ananda - voice, Jana Starling - clarinet, K. S. Mani - violin, Anand Bala - mrdangam [double-sided drum]
Ananda: Treasures
Tantra, TSMV9701
15:07
(Our weekly raga guide, beginning with South Indian Shankarabharanam, which happens to share its interval structure with the Western major scale. N.B Ananda starts singing on the third degree of the scale.

Note how the mood changes from carefree to tense round about 2:24 as D and B are flattened and E and A jettisoned, turning the composition into the pentatonic ragam Revathi (C Db F G Bb). Fortunately for us Ananda sings the note names: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa (same as Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do), which facilitates following along.

At 4:35-ish the mood brightens thanks to the sudden introduction of a major 3rd above tonic C. It's the pentatonic ragam Valachi, C E G A Bb (called Kalavati in North India). Do you recognize that? It's your typical boogie woogie bass line:









Then at 6:50-ish....)

*4. Mohana Rama: [Raga] Mohana
30:16

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

†5. Raga Khamaj, Thumri
12:18

†6 . Raga Nilambari
6:44

†7. Raga Bhairavi
12:30

*8. Vathapi: [Raga] Hamsadwani
14:53

*9. Naadhaloludai: [Raga] Kalyana Vasantha
7:50

*10. Bol Shambo: [Raga] Revathy
4:50

*Tracks 1, 4, 8, 9, 10
Prasant Radhakrishnan - alto sax, Embar S. Kannan - violin, Mannargudi A. Easwaran - mrdangam, V. Suresh - ghatam [clay water jug], B. Rajashekar - morsing [jaw harp]
Swara Shuda: Carnatic Classical Album on Saxophone by Prasant Radhakrishnan
Sruthiliya, SCD 5013

†Tracks 2, 5-7
N. Rajam - violin, Akram Khan - tabla
N. Rajam: Radiant
Sense World Music, 022

What musical instrument is most "human" in its affect? The violin? The erhu? No no, how about the sarangi? Its sound has been likened to the plaintive cry of the human voice. It's also painful to play, as the strings are stopped not by the fingertips, but by the fingernail or the first knuckle, and that carries a certain existential satisfaction. A show for sarangi fans this Wednesday. (At right, smokin' sarangi fingers.)

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

1. Raga Lalit (rec. 1987)
Ram Narayan - sarangi, Suresh Talwalkar - tabla, Neil Sorrell & Elizabeth Haddon - tanpuras
Nimbus Records, NI 5183
73:43
(Scale: C Db E F F# Ab B emerges out of the pre-dawn silence. The "odd", scrunched-together intervals suggest instability in the natural world at the transition between night and day.)

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

2. Ragamalika (Medley of Ragas)

Ananda - voice, Jana Starling - clarinet, K. S. Mani - violin, Anand Bala - mrdangam [double-sided drum]
Ananda: Treasures
Tantra, TSMV9701
15:07
(Our weekly raga guide, beginning with South Indian Shankarabharanam, which happens to share its interval structure with the Western major scale.

Note how the mood changes from carefree to tense round about 2:25 as D and B are flattened and E and A jettisoned, turning the composition into the pentatonic ragam Revathi (C Db F G Bb). Fortunately for us Ananda sings the note names: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa (same as Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do), which facilitates following along.

At 4:35-ish the mood brightens thanks to the sudden introduction of a major 3rd above tonic C. It's the pentatonic ragam Valachi, C E G A Bb....)

3. Raga Yaman
15:36
("This raga is simple and elegant in nature, yet it expresses the purity of guiltless love." Scale: Lydian mode, C D E F# G A B. Playtime: 9:00pm - midnight.)

4. Raga Jan Sammohoni
12:37
(Title means "people's favourite". Scale: same as Valachi, above. Playtime: Evening, night?)

Tracks 3-4
Ramesh Mishra - sarangi, Polash Gomes - tabla
Reminiscence: Sarangi Solo by Pandit Ramesh Mishra
Rageshree Music Institute, RMI CD 102

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

5. Raga Jaijaivanti
Rais Khan - sitar, Sultan Khan - sarangi, Sabir Khan - tabla
Together Again: Rais Khan & Sultan Khan: Sitar & Sarangi
Audiorec Classics, 766032 1037-2
60:35
(Description TBA: It's a complex raga with shades of other ragas that I am just starting to get my head around. You may want to consult the episode of January 13th. Playtime: midnight - 3:00am.)

The summer survey of the Indian instrumentarium continues apace with a show dedicated to the bamboo flute. Four players are featured: Steve Gorn, Ronu Majumdar, Rajender Prasanna and Hariprasad Chaurasia. Malkauns, that mystical raga of becoming human, crops up again.

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

1. Raga Bhairav (rec. 1982)
Steve Gorn - bansuri flute
Bansuri Bamboo Flute: Indian Ragas
Latitudes, LAT 50604
20:40
("Traditionally associated with sunrise and dawn.... contemplation, meditation and devotion....")

2. Raga Bhimpalasi (rec. 2007)
Ronu Majumdar - bansuri flute, Arvind Azad - tabla, Vilas D. Pednekar & Kalpesh Sachla - tanpuras
Ronu Majumdar: Master of the Indian Bansuri
ARC Music, EUCD 2056
29:27
(Playtime: Afternoon. "...soothing and sweet and easily accessible.")

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

3. Ragamalika (Medley of Ragas)
Ananda - voice, Jana Starling - clarinet, K. S. Mani - violin, Anand Bala - mrdangam [double-sided drum]
Ananda: Treasures
Tantra, TSMV9701
15:07
(Our raga guide, beginning with South Indian Shankarabharanam, which happens to share its interval structure with the Western major scale. Note how the mood changes from carefree to tense round about 2:25 as D- and B-flats are added and E- and A-naturals jettisoned, turning the composition into the pentatonic ragam Revathi. Fortunately for us Ananda sings the note names: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa (same as Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do), which facilitates your following along...)

4. Raga Shree
Rajender Prasanna - bansuri flute, Athar Hussain - tabla, Rajesh Prasanna - swarmandal [zither]
Tribute to Pandit Raghu Nath Prasanna
Super Cassettes Industries, SICCD-132
41:20
(Playtime: Just after sunset. Lots of "odd" intervals in this one, i.e augmented third between Db and F# in ascending melodies.)

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

5. Raga Malkauns
Hariprasad Chaurasia - bansuri flute, Rik Masterson & Emam - tanpuras
Hariprasad Chaurasia: Flying Beyond: Improvisations on the Bamboo Flute: Music for Mediation, Relaxation, and Healing
Eternal Music, n.n.
44:36
(Note: no tabla! Playtime: 1:00am - 4:00am. That Kohlbergian raga of personal transformation.)

6. (Ordinarily after a performance like this I want 15 minutes of silence, but management frowns on dead air. Here's a lighter, folksy raga "from the mountains" to cool us down.)
Raga Pahadi (rec. 1991)
Hariprasad Chaurasia - bansuri flute, Fazal Qureshi - tabla
Written on the Wind
Audiorec Classics, 766032 1008-2
17:15

The first show of the month focuses on lighter classical and classically-inspired music. Today I present sitar concertos by Ravi Shankar and Alan Hovhaness and East-meets-West chamber music with Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin.

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

1. Ravi Shankar: Swara Kakali (based on Raga Tilang) (1966)
9:03

2. Ravi Shankar: Raga Piloo (1967)
16:15

Tracks 1-2
Daniel Hope - violin, Gaurav Mazumdar - sitar, Asok Chakraborty - tabla, Gilda Sebastian - tanpura
Daniel Hope: East Meets West
Warner Classics, 2564 61329-2
(Both pieces are "In memoriam Yehudi Menuhin". Gaurav Mazumdar is a student of Ravi Shankar.)

*3. Raga Ananda Bhairava (rec. 1967)
Ravi Shankar - sitar, Alla Rakha - tabla, Nodu Mullick - tanpura
15:41

4. Ragamalika (Medley of Ragas)
Ananda - voice, Jana Starling - clarinet, K. S. Mani - violin, Anand Bala - mrdangam [double-sided drum]
Ananda: Treasures
Tantra, TSMV9701
15:07
(Our raga guide, beginning with South Indian Shankarabharanam, which happens to share its interval structure with the Western major scale. Note how the mood changes from carefree to tense round about 2:25 as D- and B-flats are added and E- and A-naturals jettisoned, turning the composition into the pentatonic ragam Revathi....)

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

5. Ravi Shankar: Raga-Mala (Sitar Concerto No.2) (1979-80)
Ravi Shankar - sitar, Zubin Mehta - conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra
EMI, CDM 7243 5 67102 2 1
52'
(Me and the bird sang Malhar (4th movement of the concerto) during the thunderstorm.)

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

*6. Ravi Shankar: Twilight Mood (rec. 1976)
Ravi Shankar - sitar, Yehudi Menuhin - violin, Alla Rakha - tabla, Nodu Mullick - small tanpura, Amiya Dasgupta - bass tanpura
10:36

*Tracks 3 & 6
West Meets East: The Historic Shankar/Menuhin Sessions
EMI, 7243 5 67180 2 9

7. Alan Hovhaness: Shambala op.228 (1969)
Gaurav Mazumdar - sitar, Christina Fong - violin, Rastislav Stúr - conductor, Slovenská Filharmónia
Alan Hovhaness: Janabar, Talin, Shambala

OgreOgress productions, 634479 667077
45:00