Customer Reviews

Raga Puriya Dhanashri

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Not to be missed.

The previous reviewer hit the nail right on the head when he mentioned Ustad Imrat Khan's prowess on the surbahar in the alaap. Unfortunatly
he doesn't do right to the fact that the now leader of the Imdadkhani Gharana (After his brother Ustad vilayat Khan sadly passed away) is an adept sitaryi too, something which is apparent on the four classic Nimbus recordings-but nothing short but fully manifest on this classic I.A.M.
recording.

Raga Puriya Dhanashri is a sunset raga, full of contemplative austerity and detachment. The Ustad takes a stellar 44 minutes to develop a vast and absorbing Alaap that explores every strand of rasa inherent in this profoundly meditative Raga. This is a performance on par with his great renditions of Darbari Kannada and Marwa: comprehensive, focussed,
methodical and thorough.

The Maestro's tone is recorded in the usual I.A.M. way: right on top of the strings, very realistic with little reverberation, almost the
antithesis of the Nimbus house sound: airy, sweet and atmospheric. It gives us the opportunity to really focus on his playing technique and tonal colouring. What an experience: Ustad Imrat Khan fully displays his mastery of the Gayaki Ang (singing) style here...from very dry reverberating earthshaking bass tones, to the most lofty etheric meends he takes the listener to ever higher, peaceful realms. Sometimes it is almost as if one listens to a whole orchestra, while he employs the chickari (sympathetic drone strings).

After this authoritive Alaap, Jor and Jhalla. The Ustad begins anew with a shorter Alaap on the sitar - to my knowledge this is the only recording with Raga Marwa on Nimbus where he plays a full raga on both instruments; according to the ancient tradition of this gharana - Guess what? It's mesmerizing...the delicate strokes of shimmering beauty laud in the evening with tranquil tenderness. This vision continues into an almost
playful gat, which is contrary to what the other reviewer states, of singular beauty.

Anybody interested in a very serious, virtuosic and truly panoramic performance of Puriya Dhanashri should get this... If you allready enjoy Ustad Imrat Khan's Recordings, this is one of his most honest and soulful recordings.

Imrat Khan is the master of flashy and expressive surbahar alap. It can be said that he treats all ragas the same, but he has no equal in flashy and expressive surbahar technique and it makes for beautiful, gorgeous listening. Frankly, I can't stand sitar gat so I may not be qualified to comment on the last 30 minutes (Imrat picks up the sitar, his son (of all people) joins in on the tabla, I turn it off), but the opening 45-minute solo is pure Imratkhani firework surbahar at its best! Long live unaccompanied alap, say I!