This week on the show, we're featuring the music of the legendary flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is an absolute genius on the flute, which could partly explain why he has produced an incredible number of albums - I looked up the list on his website, and it is just endless! He also has a long list of collaborations with literally hundreds of musicians. I've had the pleasure of attending one of his performances, and let me assure you that he is a dream to listen to. He is one of those artists whose work is "audience-friendly", if I may use the term. Personally, I find him very easy to listen to - melodious, easy to catch on to, yet very elegant - it really is very soothing to listen to, especially after a rough day at work.
Now surprisingly, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia comes from a family of non-musicians. In fact, his father was a wrestler, who wanted him to follow in his footsteps. Though he did undergo training to be a wrestler, Pandit Chaurasia started learning music at a friend's house in secrecy. It was only when he was 15, and better at music than wrestling that he was able to receive formal training. He started with vocal music but soon switched to the flute. Even today, he claims that his initial training in wrestling gave him the stamina and control that is characteristic of his style of playing the flute.
Throughout his career, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia has worked with a lot of musicians. He has put a lot of effort into making Hindustani music accessible to everyone. In particular, he has done a lot of work in collaboration with jazz artists, most notably, with John McLaughlin and the fusion band Shakti.
For more of his music, visit his website, right here.
Today's playlist:
1. Raag Madhuvanti (15:08)
2. Raag Mishra (10:30)
3. Raag Sindhi Bhairavi (6:11)
4. Raag Bageshree (10:42)
5. Raag Mishra Shivaranjani (10:43)
Avinash Sastry
Gharana Music
WREK Atlanta, 91.1 FM
Mondays, 8-9 p.m.
www.wrek.org
(+1) 404-894-2468
Email: gharanamusicatlanta@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment