Created a page with some videos to discuss the beautiful and stately raga Shahana :
New Raga: Nayaki Kanada
As part of my slow progress in capturing material on ragas not available elsewhere, I’ve just added a section on the somewhat rare raga Nayaki Kanada
This post is dedicated to the memory of sarod maestro Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta who passed away recently.
Patdeep- an afternoon poem
I recently performed the sweet melodiic raga Patdeep (Patdip) at a concert in Brisbane. A beautiful afternoon raga, it reminded me of many poems and musical compositions in this lesser heard raga
Often considered a “smaller” or “limited” raga, Patdeep is never the less a beautiful haunting melody worthy of detailed exploration. So here is a page on this raga
Jugalbandi
I performed with Nicolas Buff (Saxophone) and Pandurang Torvi (tabla) at the Temple in Melbourne. We played Raga Gorakh Kalyan in Jhaptaal (10 beats) and Teentaal (16 beats)
We had no time to meet and practice, so resorted to sending each other sound clippings recorded on the phone ! The composition below is originally from sarod maestro Pandit Buddhadeb Dasgupta as communicated by his senior disciple sitar virtuoso Pt Sugato Nag…. I’ve played the full composition including the antara, which is usually missing in other recordings of this piece.
Gorakh Kalyan (a raga with a curious name since it has no obvious relationship with the Kalyan group of ragas such as Yaman Kalyan, Shyam Kalyan, Shuddha Kalyan or Puriya Kalyan) is a raga of peace… and is especially suited for the sarod.
Here is a small clip of the performance: (pls excuse the sound quality)
Due to the acoustics of the venue, the sound is raw.
New compositions: the art of mulling over things
At a recent concert by a visiting vocalist (Shri Kuljit Singh Sangar), he sang a fast 16 beat composition in Bageshri. I heard it and then went about my own business, but the composition stayed with me mentally.
A few days later, I was able to take the gist of the composition and translate it to the sarod. I initially thought I’d come up with a new composition based on the above khayal, but later on it turned out that I had actually made a similar composition with a similar structure.
Here is the composition: This is a good example of how compositions can emerge based on mulling a raga over in your head:
Next step: to compose a matching antara…..
Added new material on raga Kaunsi Kanada
Continuing the series on this magnificent raga.. some compositional material from a lesson with students… a slow 16 beat (vilambit teentaal) composition in Raga Kaunsi Kanada
Excerpts from a recent concert
First post for 2016… have been away for some time ..
Here’s a post from a recent concert….raw audio/video…
The setting was in a private residence in a beautiful part of Melbourne called Eltham… and it had a resident peacock which kept calling out at times..
I have added some description of the content sequence in the Youtube video notes…
Meeting with Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan
Sound Production on the Sarod: Some Perspectives
I recently had the opportunity to discuss sound production as a subject with senior indian classical instrumentalists.
Published page on Raga Nand Kalyan
I’ve got the Kalyan work off and running by discussing in brief, the wonderful raga Nand Kalyan…also known simply by its shorter name, Nand, or Anandi….
Raga Nand Kalyan (also known as Anandi or Nand)