Leicester, UK - Hariprasad Chaurasia, the bamboo flute master,
has a new 2-CD set on the Sense
World Music label entitled Shikar. The
concert performance was recorded on January 2003, at the Saptak Festival in
Gujarat, India, where HariPrasad Chaurasia has been a regular performer since
this annual musical celebration began some twenty five years ago.
He begins with Raga Jaijavanti, an evening melody which has been a great
favorite of many vocal masters of the past, including Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. The
performance begins with the traditional alap, a slow, meditative elaboration of
the main phrases of the raga played in a free improvised style. In instrumental
music and dhrupad, the alap is followed by jor and jhalla, with the introduction
of a gentle tempo. For this part of the performance HariPrasad Chaurasia is
accompanied by Bhavani Shankar on the pakhawaj, an ancient, majestic sounding
barrel shaped drum.
The second half of the recital begins with the popular Raga Jog, an evening raga
which has emerged as a favorite with both artists and listeners over the last
fifty years. Hariprasad begins with a short alap, before playing a composition
set to a nine beat rhythmic cycle (Matta taal) played by Vijay Ghate on the
tabla.
World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20041125170244824