Indian Classical Music Thread

I have both those CDs and they are among my favourites of any genre.

Another amazing "fusion" CD is Dream by U. Srinivas (he of the electric mandolin fame) & Michael Brook. It also features Nigel Kennedy and others. It was recorded just after Srinivas's traditional Carnatic album Rama Sreerama on the same label (Real World).

I have a few albums by Srinivas and really enjoy the vigour and rhythm of the Carnatic sound. It's amazing that an electric string instrument can be incororated into an ancient form and sound like it must have belonged there forever.

 

U.Srinivas is a favorite of mine, too! I love Rama Sreerama. When Srinivas died unexpectedly, I went to a memorial concert by a student. It was a very moving experience.

 

I have nothing to contribute to this thread except my desire that it continues to grow. So much good stuff in only two pages. Please continue.

 

I had no idea he had died. I just read his bio on wikipedia to confirm. That is just tragic.

 

Julian, I knew him through an acquaintance of mine, albeit slightly. The pressures of being a boy wonder on the mandolin got to him eventually. He pretty much ruined his liver.

 

Anybody with a passing interest in the flute should listen to this absolute genius eccentric:

. The recording is not great !

T.R. Mahalingam or "Flute Mali" as he was called affectionately marched to his own drummer. He used to come to concerts with a small silver flask always with him (containing whisky). You have to imagine this in the context of very conservative South India in the 1960s-70s. So good was he that he would abruptly stop playing, get off stage, come back 3-5 minutes later and pick up the exact note in the raaga that he had been playing. My father was an acquaintance of his. My father loved to recall the following incident with Mali - he was playing a raaga that supposedly attract cobras and one did come and was swaying for a while with hood raised before slipping away quietly.

 

I just noticed the the thread. Do please go ahead, don't wait for me! Besides, I have no great technical information or wisdom to impart, and cannot even begin to match the posts on Hindustani music, which I must read slowly later

Very briefly, Carnatic music is more song-based than Hindustani, although it still contains a large amount of improvised material. It can, indeed, be vibrant and energetic, but I enjoy it most when it is slow and gentle.

This stuff is in my blood. It was Carnatic music that brought me to India in the first place, and I go to concerts quite frequently, probably more than a hundred a year. Without carnatic music, I simply wouldn't be here in Chennai. But it is in Ganesh's genes! I keep trying to get him to rejoin in roots, back in the concert halls. However, away from the live music stage, I'm more likely to be listening to The Grateful Dead!

 

If I could listen to one musician, only, ever... it would be...




Her name is R Vedavalli. She is 80 years old, and her voice melts my heart and soul every time I hear her.

Pictured with two of her senior students, performing at the Madras Music Academy, 2014. Actually, they at the back is her student too, which makes three. I seriously try never to miss a concert by any of these people, and several other of her students too.

The pic was a happy accident. Most of my concert snaps are just blurred "diary entry" snapshots so that can see where I've been. This one came out so well that I had it printed, framed, and gave one to each to the ladies.

 

It's understandable and no less tragic for that. I'm English and a couple of years older than U. Srinivas and I spent about 18 months in India when I was younger. One thing I noticed is that, even though drinking alcohol is barely admitted to outside of elite metropolitan society, extremely excessive consumption is actually widespread. I remember being in Delhi when the airport duty free shops were on strike and the vast supply of semi-legal and very cheap Johnnie Walker dried up. It commanded the attention of the newspapers in a similar way as would a border conflict with Pakistan or the latest Bollywood star's sex/terrorism/paternity/murder scandal.

Anyway, I am certainly not criticising U. Srinivas. People try to manage unusual or even usual circumstances and pressures in different ways and we are all fallible and subject to bad luck and tragedy. I've been absorbed by his playing since I first heard Rama Sreerama, I guess 15 or 20 years ago and, thanks to the miracle of recording, feel certain I'll continue to be mesmerised by his lyrical playing for as long as I live.

 

Here's Rama Sreerama:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091J9JFS?ie=UTF8&keywords=u srinivas&qid=1455068822&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

And another U. Srinivas CD I like, with Zakir Hussain on tabla as well as more traditional carnatic percussion in the form of mrdangam:


http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Mandoli...F8&qid=1455068822&sr=8-10&keywords=u+srinivas


Compare to an acoustic mandolin played in Hindustani style:
You can find this as a Cd if you look around
https://www.amazon.com/Mandolin-Glo...qid=1455069121&sr=8-1&keywords=mandolin+glory
This is a CD I mentioned, Mandolin Glory by Snehashish Mozunder

And another recommended recording. It's a Sarangi, electric mandolin duet with the great sarangiya Sultan Khan and U. Srinivas:
http://www.amazon.com/Sahavaadhan-S...=1455069272&sr=8-2&keywords=u+srinivas+sultan

 

Wow, what youngsters on that cover pic. I can hardly recognise Raja Rao at all!

 

Nathan:

Good to see you back. I am always thankful to the man who sold me the improved caps for my BH Crack.

 

http://play.raaga.com/carnatic/singer/MS.-Subbulakshmi/popular/Gems-Of-Thyagaraja-Vol-1-CL02669

Check ths out at your leisure. These 3 doyens in Carnatic music are rightly called the Queens of Carnatic music. I was privileged to have Mrs. M.S. Subbalakshmi (known popularly as MS and a family friend to boot) and Mrs. M.L. Vasanthakumari (known populary as MLV) perform at my wedding in 1987. MS was called the Nightingale of India and has performed in various countries. She was the first musisican ever to win the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.

More on her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._S._Subbulakshmi

 

Thanks for this thread! I bought the Raga Guide years ago during a cycle of listening to North Indian music, but haven't quite had the fortitude to dig into it. I love listening to Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Debashish Bhattachariya, etc, as well as various fusion things. Any good book recommendations on Indian musics - more of what is going on / theory? Oh yeah, the physical Raga Guide is you know, like, a book! With text! Some things get lost when all your music is on a NAS...

"Miles from India" is one of my favorite albums ever - anybody with an interest in jazz or Indian ought to give it a spin. It's more jazz/western music since it's Miles Davis' compositions with a cast of luminaries from two great improvisational traditions.

 

I went to a school where they played raga even though all us boys preferred football. The headmaster was Welsh. What to do?

 

That's just not cricket, Julian. You should have told him that. Sir, Sir! This is just not cricket, Sir!

 

Nathan, his father was an even better player than him. Check him out...his name is Ustad Alla Rakha

 

Yes, he is a genius. Damned good at the showmanship as well as the music. In fact, other musicians steal his jokes!

 

Have to share this as I made a video and posted in HD on Vimeo. This is an iPhone HD video recording.

Murad Ali - Voice of the Sarangi

 

My cat dies last night. I'm actually OK with that (well, as much as one can be) because he was very seriously injured, had been an inpatient at the vets for over two weeks, looked like he was getting better, then regressed badly over the last few days. I knew that he could not possibly survive and it was time for one the most difficult decisions in the world. Nature was ahead of me and took him away without further human intervention.

Time for the healing power of Music.

I was at this concert this evening:

R Vedavalli...



(They stream live: the videos may or may not be left on their youtube channel long term, it depends on the agreement of the artists. If the above content disappears, that would be the reason)


.