29th March, 2010 - Sufi/Fusion Special

For this show I decided to experiment a little and incorporate some Sufi-inspired music as well as "fusion", while keeping the base Indian Classical. And it turned out to be great fun. I have to say though, this was completely inspired by this recent discovery: cokestudio.com.pk

Coke Studio is a Pakistani television show that aired its first season in 2008 and the second in 2009. It features a wide range of pop, rock, classical (both Indian and Pakistani), Sufi-inspired and folk music played by Pakistan's most celebrated musicians A friend of mine found some videos of it on YouTube recently and shared them with me. I was blown away with just the first three songs that I heard and decided to get as much of the music as possible. Thankfully, they let you download it all for free. So instead of playing just one song of the Coke Studio sessions on the show, I decided to do an entire show around the concept of collaborations including, but going beyond Indian Classic music.

An interesting opener to the show was an Indian raag (Raag Bahaar) being performed by the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I could not think of a better coming-together of music from the two countries, as you will realize when you listen to a Hindustani raag being performed in typical Qawwali style. That was followed by Aik Alif from the Coke Studio sessions (my current favourite track), Making Music by Zakir Hussain and friends (an album off which I have played nearly all the tracks over the past year), and finally a track from a CD that I found in the WREK studio that almost made my eyes pop out: "The Melody Of Rhythm", a collaboration including Ustad Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra!

It was a show that gave me a lot of happiness.

Here is the track listing:

1. Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (vocals) - Raag Bahaar (live)

2. Saeen Zahoor (vocals) & Noori (rock duo) - Aik Alif (Coke Studio Session, Season 2)

3. Ustad Zakir Hussain (tabla), Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), Jan Garabarek (saxophone) & John McLaughlin (guitar) - Making Music (album: Making Music)

4. Ustad Zakir Hussain (tabla), Bela Fleck (banjo), Edgar Meyer (bass) and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra - Bubbles (album: The Melody of Rhythm)

...and that leaves just about 5-6 more shows of Gharana Music that I will host before I graduate! The countdown begins..

Karan Mehra

Gharana Music
WREK Atlanta, 91.1 FM
Mondays, 8-9 p.m.
www.wrek.org
(+1) 404-894-2468
Email: gharanamusicatlanta@gmail.com

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