Customer Reviews

Samwad

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Samwad is probably one of the best Indian classical CDs I've heard in a long while - I cannot claim to be any expert - but I have listened to Indian classical music for many years, and am a fan of the Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha pairing. Over the years I have also taken in the Asian Massive movement - like Tabla Beat Science (Bill Laswell and Zakir Hussain - who is the son of Alla Rakha).

The music on Samwad is played by two young leading lights - Kala Ramnath (violin) and Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar) in a rare Jugalbandi (instrumental duet) - the interplay is simply stunning.

I am particularly taken with Kala Ramnath's playing and tone - it is exquisite - unlike any violin playing I've heard - and that includes the true greats in Western classical music. Her tonality has to be heard to be believed - it has a very "vocal" quality - listen to the opening slow Alap.

I know this is classical music of India - but I listen to it in a very different way to the almost "reverence" of Western classical - there is an element of unbridled enthusiasm, exhilarating - approaching the ecstatic.
But this is what good music is about - it should move you....

Listen to the interchange starting at about 5:30 on track 3 - especially Kala's violin phrase at 6:42 - to see what I mean.

The tabla playing by Subhankar Banerjee is nothing short of breathtaking as well - I say this being a fan of the fabulous Alla Rakha - Ravi Shankar's principle tabla player for decades.

This is a CD that is well worth listening to - I find myself almost obsessive about it inspite of owning it for over a year - and this is rare and outstanding for me considering I have so much good Indian classical music in my collection.

It appears this CD is not currently available from Amazon USA or its associate vendors - a pity - since as far as I know the CD is still current according to the Sense World Music label website. It is however available via Amazon MarketPlace (and over at Amazon.co.UK) - and it's worth chasing this CD down.

If you are already familiar with this CD - Kala Ramnath's CD titled "Kala" is also well worth considering - this also pairs her with Subhankar Banerjee on tabla.

The music here is excellent. However, there is a problem with the 3rd track on amazon.com. Although it should be 14:25 as listed on this website, the mp3 is fragmentary and only 1:11 long. Until/unless this is fixed... just view this as a three-track album. If you want to buy it for tracks 1, 2, & 4, do so; it's still worth getting for those tracks. Just don't expect to get track 3.

Duets, or jugalbandis, are special treats in Hindustani music. We delight in contasts of sitar and sarod, sitar and reeded shehnai, sarod and bowed sarangi, and bansuri flute and santoor. We listen how two masters interact, echo, exchange, and co-develop the raga. This particular recording brings together two young masters: Purbayan Chatterjee on sitar and Kala Ramnath on violin. Shuhankar Banerjee supports them on tabla. They perform the evening scale, Raga Kedar, with its serious but romantic mood. To put it bluntly, these guys are good! The beautiful, soaring violin and the more grounded sitar take us on a meditative journey of peace, love, and joy. In the second, brief piece, Raga Bageshri, the musicians take turns to explore and cheerfully push the rag forward to its spirited conclusion. Chatterjee studied under the great sitarist Nikhil Banerjee; Ramnath developed under the teaching of vocalist Jasraj. These students learned the intepretative art well, and we have this remarkable happy recording to enjoy. The sound engineering, too, is very fine, with just enough echo for spatial depth.

Kedar is a great evening raga and these players are really good. Its wonderful how the sound of the sitar and the violin flow into each other. The violin player is probably the best violinist in Hindustani classical music (I feel she even exceeds her aunt N. Rajam) and the sitar player is quite good as well. If you like Indian classical music, or if you want to give it a try, you can't go wrong with this one. There is more to Indian classical music than Ravishankar and its about time people realized that!