[Neruda]

This is for lovers of indian music

I ordered this CD from Arc Music a while back, and it arrived this week. This is my first album of Sarod music. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's an Indian lute derived from an Afghan instrument (a rebab I think). It sounds similar to the Sitar, but the Sarod sounds warmer to me than the sitar does, and there don't seem to be as many drone strings (which I prefer). Anyway, I'm extremely pleased with this album. musicianship is top notch, by both Gurdev Singh and his son Navinder (accompanying on tabla). Gurdev learned Sarod from Ustad Amjad Ali Kahn, one of the best (if not the best) sarod players in the world.

They play three raags on this CD: the first is 25 minutes long, the second is 33 minutes long, and the third is 9 minutes long. I love indian music!

Overall, this CD is extremely relaxing and meditative. the natural warm tone of the Sarod really pulls me in. The recording is also quite good, expecially compared to the quality of some of my other Indian CDs. If you're into this stuff, consider picking it up somewhere. You might be hard-pressed to find it, and if so, you can buy it online like I did over the Arc music website, or from Amazon. shipping from the Arc website is free but it takes a long time.

 

[coolvij]

Excellent......."wish-listed"

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Very interesting. I'll have to check that out.

Have you ever heard of Eastern Dub Tactik or Al Gromer Khan?

Sample track of Eastern Dub Tactik.

"Mahogany Nights" and "Space Hotel" are great CD's by Al Gromer Khan... an interesting fellow, actually. He was born in Bavaria, but after obsessively studying the sitar with master Imrat Khan he was accepted into the Khan-i-Gharana dynasty.

Now that's dedication. Check those CD's out if you get a chance.

 

[Neruda]

nick, thanks for the reccomendations.

coolvij, be sure to buy this CD before you spend all your money on another MD player or something...

By the way, I forgot to mention that it's possible to hear a sample of this CD on the Arc Music website. Just click here. there's only one sample but it has a clip from each song.

 

[Wes]

Sounds great to me too, Neruda! Thanks for the lead. I'll no doubt go for it as soon as I can.

In an attempt to return the favor, let me recommend (if you don't know about him already) Ustad Bismillah Khan. He plays shenai, a sort of reed flute on which he developed an unusual proficiency. He is credited with showing the potential of the shenai for classical music; it had previously been regarded as an instrument useful for parties and festivals and not suited to more complicated things.

For a similar experience to Indian music, I strongly recommend a recording of Armenian flute music on Celestial Harmonies. The instrument is called the "duduk," and you should be able to find it by searches on that string. This is yearning and melodic stuff, very engrossing. Duduk is a nice instrument in general, but so far I've not found another disc (or even live performances) that measure up to what you'll find here.

When I get home to my collection, maybe I'll add some more Indian favorites to the list. I'd love to make this thread a source of all the best there is in Indian music. And there is plenty.

 

[SEK]

Thank you! I will get those sarod and duduk recordings.

My perennial classical Indian-based favorites include the amazing guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra's "Lure of the Desert", which is as evocative as the title. I also enjoy Indian flute music, especially almost anything by bansuri master, Hariprasad Chaurasia (A recording that has gotten a lot of play on my NAD C541i is "Indian Night Live In Stuttgart 1988"). For Carnatic flute, I enjoy the work of Dr. N. Ramani.

Of course, I enjoy that seminal recording, "Call of the Valley", featuring Kabra, Chaurasia, and santoor master, Shivkumar Sharma.

Another recording that gets a lot of play here is a mesmerizing collaboration between jazz-world trumpeter/multi-instrumentalist, Don Cherry, and Latif Khan (tabla).

I think I'll dust off my copy of Don Cherry's "Brown Rice" right now...

 

[coolvij]

Oh, I saw Chaurasia AND Shivkumar Sharma perform LIVE.............the best concert I've ever been too.........................


I've never seen such true virtuosity in real life.....beautiful stuff.

 

[Neruda]

I saw Zakir Hussain and the Masters of percussion perform live in Portland recently. That was one hell of a show.

Man, I'm liking this Sarod CD so much that I might just buy two Amjad Ali Kahn CDs! A very beautiful instrument indeed.

 

[Calanctus]

Neruda, thanks for the recommendation--I'm always interested in good Indian music. I just bought this one on Amazon (along with a bunch of Tangerine Dream).

I buy a fair number of CDs in local Indian stores. The recording quality is not great (some of them are mono--CDs in mono!) but I still love the sound.

 

[coolvij]

Zakir was great........I saw him at the Field Museum right here in chicago recently......I just liked the other show better.

 

[archosman]

Quote:

. "Mahogany Nights" and "Space Hotel" are great CD's by Al Gromer Khan... an interesting fellow, actually. He was born in Bavaria, but after obsessively studying the sitar with master Imrat Khan he was accepted into the Khan-i-Gharana dynasty. Now that's dedication. Check those CD's out if you get a chance. [/B]

Don't forget "Kamasutra"! I was in Tower a year ago and they were playing Mahogany. Decided right then and there to pick it up!