In Review--Sultan Khan & Manju Mehta

-

Sultan Khan (Sarangi)
Manju Mehta (Sitar)
Umeed
Sense World Music

 Sense World Music has brought us several jugalbandi (duets) and ensembles featuring women and men musicians. Following this tradition, Umeed features the illustrious Sarangi Player Sultan Khan and the formidable woman Sitarist Manju Mehta. While I have heard few jugalbandi recordings featuring these two North Indian instruments, this pairing seems natural, yet exotic. Even better, this 2-CD set was recorded live at the Saptak Festival so listeners get to experience the spirit of the moment.

 The musicians play their instruments in a singing style, imitating classical Indian vocals. To do this well, musicians spend years in intense training with gurus. By the time they reach the recital stage these musicians are versed in beat cycles, vocal styles, and mastership over their respective instruments. When they reach the stage where Khan and Mehta are, the musicians can literally leave you breathless when you hear their virtuoso performances. Hearing this caliber of performance can even lead you to an obsession, although healthy one, with classical Indian music.

 The first CD features the musicians performing Raag Kaunsi Kanada. The slow and moody Alap unfolds gently as the Sarangi and Sitar explore the terrain. The musicians pick up speed and intensity on the Jhor and Jhalla. I get this sense of the musicians' enjoyment performing this duet. Two tabla players, Prithviraj Mishra and Hetal Mehta come on board on track 3 and while the mood remains somber, power builds. And this power is not released until the final track, Rajasthani folk song sung by Khan, who is also known for his vocal talent.

 On CD 2, the musicians with Sukhvinder Singh on tabla, perform the livelier Raag Malkauns. Again the musicians deliver a powerful and thrilling performance that must have left audience members on the edge of their seats. Certainly the stellar musicianship coupled with sensitivity makes this CD set a mood lifter.

 senseworldmusic.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to Peyote Songs & The Native American Church

-
Image
Father Peyote: Songs of the Native American Church Introduction to the Peyote Church Ceremony This is an archival article written in 2003.  It's not updated.  For more recent recordings, go to Canyon Records website, http://www.canyonrecords.com When some people speak of Native American ceremonies, the peyote ceremony or the ingestion of the hallucinogen peyote (contains mescaline) usually surfaces. However, there is too much false information being passed around in the non-native community surrounding peyote meetings. The first thing people need to know about the Native American connection to peyote is that the plant is sacred medicine ingested as a sacrament during healing ceremonies of the Native American Church. The second thing, people need to know is that the Native American Church is not a set structure like the Christian Church. The peyote meeting could take place in a Navajo hogan or a teepee. And finally, since the peyote meeting does in part derive from Nat
Read more

21st Century Musical Healer Series--Heather Hannan

-
Image
 Healing with Sound and Reiki Based in Toronto, Canada, Heather Hannan has proven with her own life healing experiences the enormous power of sound frequencies. She acts as a bridge between the mundane world (real estate) to other spiritual dimensions (past life regressions, quantum physics, Reiki, sound frequencies,  and other cutting edge work). I met Heather through my Linked In group Musical Healers and I'm delighted to include her work and insights on this blog. As you know, raising music and sound consciousness takes a world-size village of folks, just like Heather dedicating their lives to working with the healing power of sound.  Whole Music: When did you discover and begin exploring sound healing? Heather Hannan: Ten years ago I was at a crossroads in my life and looking for a group of like-minded people with whom to explore my gifts and talents through meditation. Little did I know that via the meditation group I joined I would be invited to
Read more

Talking about Timbre

-
Image
Wikipedia As I mention in my book Whole Music , when I was a child I fell in love with timbre and the voices of the individual instruments we listened to in music class.  Each instrument conjured a specific emotions or feeling in me.  The French horn caused me to feel majestic and the cello invoked melancholy.  My moods would shift with each instrument that I heard and my moods would shift quickly. Today, I listen to more than timbre, but I have an understanding of how tone, frequencies of the tone and timbre (the color of the tone) affect me on all levels.  And I wonder what listening to an entire symphony does with its many voices, themes, keys, musical passages etc... In the concept of "whole music" I prefer not to separate musical components, but in the case of this post, I will present solo instruments for your listening and feeling pleasure. If you keep a music journal (and I hope that you do by now), write down the emotions that come up with each instrument.  R
Read more