Pandit Nayan Ghosh at Georgia Tech

Pandit Nayan Ghosh and his son Ishaan Ghosh will be performing at the Reinsch-Pierce Auditorium, at the College of Architecture at Georgia Tech. The event is on Sunday, Nov 14 2010, at 6pm. More details about the event can be found here.

Today's show is dedicated to the music of Pandit Nayan Ghoshm a renowned sitarist and tabla player. Pandit Nayan Ghosh was trained by his father, the legendary Padmabhushan Nikhil Ghosh. In addition to his father, Pandit Nayan Ghosh has accompanied and received inspiration from many of the all-time greats, such as his uncle Pandit Pannalal Ghosh, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Vilayat Khan. Currently he receives training in the repertoire of the Senia-Shahjanpore style from the great sarodiya Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta.

Playlist:
1. Nayan Ghosh - Raag Yaman (33:49)
2. Nayan Ghosh - Raag Kafi (26:15)

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

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Zakir Hussain

A few days ago, I came across this delightful track on the sarod. The artist is Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and let me tell you that he is amazing at what he does! First off, the sarod is a stringed instrument, with 5 or 6 main strings and about 9 sympathetic strings. The sympathetic strings are merely resonators that vibrate along with the main strings and add some depth and texture to the sound that is produced by the instrument. Most importantly, the sarod is a fretless instrument, and that gives the artist tremendous control over the sound that is produced. Compared to the sitar, it produces a duller, heavier sound - "sadder", if I can call it that, though it can be equally energetic in the right hands. And believe me, he's got the right hands. Personally I find his music very easy to listen to - a very prominent melody always and I find his progression very compelling, very relaxing, though it does have its intense moments. So here we go, this is Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on the sarod playing Raag Hemanti. The song is in rupaktaal, which means it is in 7 beats counted 1-2-3-1-2-1-2.

Our next artist is the perhaps the most famous tabla player India has ever produced - Ustad Zakir Hussain. I'm going to skip the usual introduction, and let his music do the talking. Besides you'll find more information on Google than I could ever hope to give you. Our second track for the day is a song titled, "Sarod", of his album Instrumental Indian. Our third and final track is going to last a while, the song is called Teentaal, meaning a cycle in 16 beats from his album Sangeet Sartaj Volume 2.


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

Pandit Anindo Chatterjee

For today's show, we're going to feature one of India's most eminent tabla players. He is a prolific performer, very well known for his amazing speed and clarity on the tabla and also for his improvisations. I've been listening to quite a bit of his music lately, and the thing that strikes you about each of his performances is the intelligence. He has this knack of turning even the simplest themes into incredibly complex patterns and I really love the way he switches between the slower and faster sequences. It is always a pleasure to listen to his music. But I've been building up the suspense far too long, so our first track for the day is Taal Pancham Savari by Pandit Anindo Chatterjee. The track is called so because it is in Taal Pancham Savari. Now for those of you who are new to Hindustani music, taal is almost equivalent to the meter of a piece. It defines the length of each cycle. In this case, Taal Pancham Savari defines a cycle of 15 beats counted 3-4-4-4.

A bit more about Anindoji. He was born and brought up in West Bengal, and it was his uncle, a sitar player, Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee who started him off on tabla training when he was just 4 years old. Years later, when asked why he chose the tabla, Anindoji replied, "As a child, I went around beating things around the house. This probably made my parents think that I had fancied rhythm and therefore I started on my Tabla training." By the age of 5, he was performing on All India Radio, and at the age of 6, he became a disciple of Padmabhushan Gyan Prakash Ghosh. Anindoji's performances are marked by clarity of tone, very crisp and clear bols and an intutive sense of rhythm and melody. The next track in Taal Deepchandi - it is in 14 beats counted as 3-4-3-4, this song is much shorter but very entertaining to listen to. Our final track is in Taal Ashta Rupak, meaning it is in 8 beats.

If you would like to hear more of Pandit Anindo Chatterjee's music, you can visit his website here.


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

22nd March, 2010

A big thanks to Uche, host of Sub Saharan Vibes, who covered in for me last Monday and did a great job picking music and hosting the show. He dug out some rare vinyls from our vault, and these are the tracks he played:

1. Pandit Raghunath Seth (flute) & Sri Balakrishnan Iyer - Raag Hansadhwani (album: Classical Flute Music of India)

2. Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta (sarod) - Drut Bandish in Teentaal

3. Pandit Samir Chatterjee (tabla) - Drut Gat in Teentaal

4. Pandit Devendra Murdeshwar and Gopal Das

5. Pandit Ravi Shankar - Mishra Ghara Dhun

6. N. Rajam - Raag Jhinjhoti

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

http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

8th March, 2010

The music on the show tends to get more soothing around exams, I'm not sure whether that's a conscious attempt on my part.

Tonight what played was 2 beautiful pieces that definitely helped relax the mind. Here they are:

1. Dr. N. Rajam (violin) - Raag Jhinjhoti (album: Masters Of Indian Classical Music Vol 2)

2. Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute) - Raag Durga (album: Masters Of Indian Classical Music Vol 2)

Playing live in Atlanta on 20th March is the big event: Ustad Zakir Hussain! He will be performing at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University with a host of brilliant musicians, namely

Taufiq Qureshi, Ganesh and Kumaresh, Sabir Khan, Navin Sharma, Sridar Parthasarathy, and the Motilal Dhakis of Bengal.

More details here: http://www.rialtocenter.org/

For updates regarding the show and Indian Classical events in Atlanta, follow us on Twitter on http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

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

http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

22nd February 2010: Tabla Special

Having a tabla themed show was always going to be fun, and I hope you weren't disappointed.

We had three pieces tonight, the first two being performances in teen taal (16 beats), and the show closer was radically different to anything we've played before. In addition to Ustad Zakir Hussain's tabla beats, there was also the ghatam, the dhol, the dholak and more. One of the most energetic mpieces we've ever had, this ventured away from the mould of Indian Classical and incorporated flavours of Punjabi folk (north India), Rajasthani folk (western India) among others. If you couldn't tune in, make sure you listen to it by playing the tracks on the right sidebar of this blog (link available until 7th of March).

Here are the tracks that played:

1. Pt. Suresh Talwalkar - Drut Teentaal

2. Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri - Vilambit Teentaal

3. Ustad Zakir Hussain - Taal Mela

Join us again next week for another theme-based show!

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

http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

5th October, 2009

An interesting show to say the least, all the performers whose music we played today have had Western influences, yet play music that is truly Hindustani.

Srinivas Reddy on sitar began playing rock and jazz until his "life-changing" meeting with Sri Partha Chatterjee, who would go on to become his guru. (http://www.srinivasreddy.org/)

Sameer Gupta on tabla began, and continues to play improvisational world, fusion and jazz, with several other active musical projects. (http://www.sameergupta.com)

Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, a highly accomplished slide guitar player uses it for Indian Classical music. (http://www.debashishbhattacharya.com)

Here is what played:

1) Srinivas Reddy (sitar) and Sameer Gupta (tabla) - Raag Hemant (Alap and Vilambit), from the album "Hemant & Jog"

2) Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya (slide guitar) with Swapan Chaudhuri (tabla) - Raag Pahadi Jhinjhoti (Madhya Gat in Jhaptal)

If you liked what you heard (you can listen to the last 2 shows by clicking on the links in the sidebar on the right), go ahead and buy the music!

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

http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

28th September, 2009

Ustad Vilayat Khan's music always has a calming effect on me, and so I thought even the 40+ minute performance was too short. This was followed by Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, whose style of playing I've always been a fan of. Not much else to report from here, apart from the as-usual hectic school work.

Here's what played tonight:

1. Ustad Vilayat Khan (sitar) - Raag Bhairo Bahar -- Alap and Jhor

2. Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (tabla) - Asta Mangal taal (album: Dream on Drums)

You can now listen to the last two shows by playing the links on the sidebar on the right. You can also follow us on twitter!

http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

See you next week!

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

http://twitter.com/gharanamusic

August 31st, 2009

The fall semester begins, and it's great to have a campus full of people! This semester will see more musicians come in to the studio (Georgia Tech students, and otherwise) and have a chat with us. Also, stay tuned to get updates about Indian Classical concerts happening on and off campus.

Tonight's show included artists that we hadn't played before, and I'm now wondering why. Here's the playlist:

1. Pandit Suresh Talwalkar (tabla) - Drut Teental (album: Laya Kalpana, Rhythmic Bliss of Tabla)

2. Ustad Vilayat Khan (sitar) with Akram Khan (tabla) - Raag Jaijaiwanti

3. Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute) - Raag Marwa

You can listen to the show here until the 7th of Sept:

Part 1 (8.00 p.m. - 8.30 p.m.)

Part 2 (8.30 p.m. - 9.00 p.m.)

Or here between the 7th and the 14th:

Part 1 (8.00 p.m. - 8.30 p.m.)

Part 2 (8.30 p.m. - 9.00 p.m.)

Do your best to make it to the Georgia Tech campus on the morning of the 19th of September, an contribute by walking for charity:

http://wiki.vibha.org/Dream_Mile:2009_Atlanta_Home

If you would like to volunteer for the event, please visit:

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg956v/vibha%20volunteering.htm

Hope to see you there!

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

July 20th, 2009: The July tribute series to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, ep 3

Just one more week to go in this series of tribute shows to the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and today we have a 1988 recording from his concert in Stuttgart. The performance featured the Ustad accompanied by Swapan Chaudhuri on tabla, who is the Director of Percussion at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California and Basil, Switzerland. On the tambura (tanpura) is Shefali Nag.

The other track of the night was by the tabla legend Ustad Allah Rakha, along with his son, Ustad Zakir Hussain. When Ustad Ali Akbar Khan gave his first recital on All India Radio in 1938, it was Ustad Allah Rakha who had accompanied him on the tabla.

Here is the playlist:

1. Gat in Slow and Fast Tintal - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod), Swapan Chaudhuri (tabla) & Shefali Nag (tambura): Live in Stuttgart

2. Roopak Taal - Ustad Allah Rakha (tabla), Ustad Zakir Hussain (tabla)

Here are the audio files of the show, these links will be good for a week:

Part 1: 8 - 8.30 p.m.

Part 2: 8.30 - 9 p.m.

Next week will be the final show of the tribute month, and I promise you it's going to be special. We'll be playing some of the Ustad's finest collaborations with other artistes that he has played a lot with.

Thanks for tuning in!

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

22nd June, 2009

As the show continues right through the summer, this week we had the pleasure of listening to the following two pieces:

1. Ustad Rashid Khan - Raag Bihaag

2. Pandit Anindo Chatterjee - Jhaptaal (album: Dream on Drums)

Keep tuning in every Monday night at 8. In case you missed the show in the past couple of weeks, you can listen to the archives here:

Last show:

Part 1: 8 - 8.30 p.m.

Part 2: 8.30 - 9 p.m.

Week before last:

Part 1: 8 - 8.30 p.m.

Part 2: 8.30 - 9 p.m.

Each show is split over two 30 minute files, and the tracks will open up in the music player of your choice.

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

4th May, 2009

Today's playlist:

1. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) - Raag Shri (All India Radio archival recording)

2. Pandit Anindo Chatterjee - Taal Pancham Sawari

Gharana Music will be on air through the summer as well! Thanks for tuning in. 

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

20th & 27th April, 2009

The last Monday of the Spring 09 semester! But the show will go on through the summer, so keep tuning in every Monday night at 8 p.m. for an hour of the highest quality Indian classical music.

To begin with, last Monday (20th April) was a Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia special, where we played his performance of Raag Bageshree (alaap and gat).

Back to this week, coming up this Sunday, the 5th of May, we will be lucky to watch a very accomplished vocalist Jayateerth Mevundi,  disciple of the legend Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, live on campus at Georgia Tech. Here are the details for this performance brought to us by the Indian Classical Music Society (ICMS), Atlanta.

When: May 3rd, Sunday at 5 p.m.

Who: Vocalist Jayateerth Mevundi, accompanied  by Bharat Kamat (tabla) and Guruprasad Hegde (harmonium).

Where: Georgia Tech Student Center Theater 

Contact: Santosh Pande at 770-447-5517, Bob Ghosh at 404-431-0091 , or Sham Navathe at 770-416-8901 

We also ended the show tonight with a piece by Jayateerth Mevundi. Here's what played on Gharana tonight:

1. Water Girl by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute) off the album 'Making Music' (1992) by Ustad Zakir Hussain (tabla), which also features John McLaughlin (guitar) and Jan Garbarek (saxophone)

2. Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (sitar) - Raag Rageshree

3. Jayateerth Mevundi (vocals) - Megh Bada Khyal

Do turn up for the concert at the student center theater, it is going to be a beautiful evening.

Karan

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