I will be live-tweeting track titles and interesting musical moments @vonwichert.

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

1. Raga Miyan ki Todi
Imrat Khan - surbahar
38:14

2. Raga Bilashkani Todi
Imrat Khan - sitar, Shafaatullah Khan - tabla, Vajahat Khan - tanpura
24:06

Tracks 1-2
Nimbus Records, NI 5153

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

3. Sounds of Shiva: Raga Kedar
7:00

4. Sounds of Brahma: Raga Bihag
8:54

5. Sounds of Krishna: Raga Gorakh Kalyan
8:35

6. Sounds of Indra: Raga Jansamohini
7:21

7. Radha: Raga Rageshri
5:58

8. Sounds of Saraswati: Raga Charukeshi
7:44

9. Shyam: Raga Piloo
7:37

10. Sounds of Brij: Raga Kafi
7:30

11. Trinity: Raga Bhairavi
12:48

Tracks 3-11
Rakesh Chaurasia - flute, Zarin Daruwala Sharma - sarod, Sunil Das - sitar, Ulhas Bapat - santur, Rupak Kulkarni - flute, Madhu Dhumal - shehnai, Bhavani Shankar - pakhawaj & tabla, Ashit Desai - arranger & conductor
Trinity: Music of the Gods
Sona Rupa, SRCD040

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

12. Raga Basant Mukhari
Alak Dasgupta - sitar, Shashanka Bakshi - tabla
Soul of Raga: Sitar
Biswas Records, BIS-186
57:15

I will be live-tweeting track titles and interesting musical moments @vonwichert.

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

1. Raga Jogeshwari (rec. 1979)
Ravi Shankar - sitar, Alla Rakha - tabla, Mrs. Jiban & Mrs. Widya - tanpuras
The Spirit of India: Ravi Shankar Plays Ragas
Deutsche Grammophon, 447 532-2
50:07
(Composed by Ravi Shankar, a combination of two ragas.... And as this goes on my permanent record, I want to be careful in what I say: This is a combination of ragas Durga [of Khammaj thaat] and Malkauns and/or Jog and Rageshri. Discussion to follow. You are welcome to post the first comment regarding this raga.)

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

2. Ravi Shankar: Inside the Kremlin (rec. Moscow 1988)
Ravi Shankar's Indian Ensemble, Ashit Desai - conductor; Russian Folk Ensemble "Boyan", A. Polietaev - conductor; Chamber Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonie, Valentin Jhuk - conductor; Government Chorus of Ministry of Culture of USSR, V. Poliansky - conductor
Ravi Shankar: Inside the Kremlin
Private Music, 2044-2-P
69'
(Indian and Russian musicians, the "meeting of musical people from vastly different cultures." Mixed results, but overall worthwhile.)

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

3. Raga Desh Malhar
28:57
(Rainy season raga. If music can be onomatopoeic, this is.)

4. Raga Mian ki Malhar*
26:26
(Rainy season raga.)

Tracks 3-4
Aashish Khan - sarod, *Zakir Hussain - tabla, *Karuna Eff & Daniela Birschel - tanpuras
Rainy Season Ragas
Chhanda Dhara, SNCD 70394

I will be live-tweeting track titles and interesting musical moments @vonwichert.

Set #1 - 8:00am - 8:45am

1. Raga Malkauns

24:43

(Scale: C Eb F Ab Bb. Emphasized note: F. Totally omitted note: G! Play time: Late night.

"It has been said that Malkauns is a raga for becoming a complete human being. Though simple in structure, it expresses the extraordinary state of being, particularly being human, an incarnation where the heavenly and earthly qualities converge" (sitarist Amit Chatterjee).

Malkauns is kinda spooky. We should play it in dry ice smoke. The Raga Guide says "superstitious musicians describe it as a raga with supernatural powers, and some believe that it can attract evil spirits". Who said that personal growth was a walk in the park?)

Kohlberg's stages of moral development, anyone? Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg suggested individuals pass through six (maybe seven) stages of moral development, from "blind egoism" through to "morality of cosmic orientation". Can music be your guide through these levels of being?)

2. Raga Bhairavi/Raga Sagar

19:24

(Scale: C Db Eb F G Ab Bb aka the Phrygian mode. Raga traditionally performed in light classical style with lots of flexibility as concluding piece in concerts. This concludes the first set.)

Tracks 1-2

Zarin Daruwala - sarod, Vibhav Nageshkar - tabla, Sujan Salkar & Ram Pratham - tanpuras

Ornate Strings: Sarod

Gramophone Company of India, CD-PSLP 5370

Set #2 - 8:45am - 10:00am

3. Raga Jaijaivanti (rec. 1999)

Asad Ali Khan - rudra vina, Mohan Shyam Sharma - pakhavaj [double-sided drum], Zaki Haider - tanpura

Nimbus Records, NI 5601

76:50

(Now for something very serious, an old version of Jaijaivanti. Scale: major scale, with Bb in descending passages. Emphasized notes: D and G. Play time: Late night. The rudra vina is striking in its low register, resonating with the gonads to an extraordinary degree. You'll want to listen to this over loudspeakers, not earphones. This performance is the North Indian equivalent of a late Beethoven string quartet.)

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

4. Raga Piloo

Nikhil Banerjee - sitar, Anindo Chatterjee - tabla, Ratan Mukherjee - tanpura

Audiorec Classics, 766032 1048-2

54:45
(A light classical raga. Scale: "It is a difficult raga to describe in technical terms, because it defies reduction to a scale or a handful of 'rules': Piloo resembles more a collection of common phrases or motifs....")