The Whole Music Experience

World   Shujaat Husain Khan, Katayoun Goudarzi,   Abhiman Kaushal and Ajay Prasanna   Spring   (no label)   To say that Spring by Hindustani sitarist Shujaat Husain Khan and Iranian vocalist Katayoun Goudarzi is a “heart” album barely describes the listening experience.   Combining the ancient Sufi poet Rumi’s soulful language with the strains of Indian sitar, bansuri flute (Ajay Prasanna) and gentle tabla beats (Abhiman Kaushal), these musicians aim for spiritual Oneness and achieve it.   Certainly, I would love to have the Rumi text in front of me while listening to this double CD recording, but even closing my eyes and allowing the voices and instruments to float over and around me takes me to a meditative place.   Yâr with its lilting melody, repetitive poetry line, and delicious beats as well as, passionate Spring (titular track), stand out as favorites for me.   The first song mentioned features vir...

Ragas were introduced in the West during the 1950s, and grew in popularity in the United States with Ravi Shankar performing both Indian classical music recitals and performing in pop-rock music festivals. His musical relationship with George Harrison also brought the sitar and ragas to public prominence in the West. Today, ragas come in many guises, from pure and sacred to pop and jazz fusion.  A variety of young talent emerges from India these days blending raga traditions from the South and North of the Subcontinent.  Western instruments were introduced as well, such as the saxophone and slide guitar, though the Indian slide guitar is different in that it contains sympathetic strings much like an Indian sarod or sitar.  Any fan of world music has come across Indian ragas in one form or another. I pulled out a random stack of CDs from my Indian music collection.  You can use these recordings as a jumping off point or you can visit a public library and check...

Amjad Ali Khan Scottish Chamber Orchestra with David Murphy Samaagam World Village I’ve heard diverse European classical fusions with classical music of other cultures.   But the bridge between traditional Indian classical and European classical music provides a blissful experience that travels beyond words.   When you consider that European music is currently based on a well-tempered scale with basically 7 notes (an octave repeats a note) and Indian music possesses 12 note scales with microtones, it seems like a miracle that these 2 languages can actually converse musically.   Traditional Indian instruments were created around the 12 note scale and the European classical instruments were created for the rigors of European classical music.   But that didn’t stop Indian master sarod player Amjad Ali Khan from teaming up with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra laboratory from exploring Indian ragas and employing 2 musical systems to achieve this goal. ...