#4011: Music Inspired by Ragas

New Sounds | Jan 25, 2020

Listen to music inspired by Indian ragas for this New Sounds show. There’s music from Kronos Quartet with Wu Man and Terry Riley, a microtonal raga by John Cage and raga-derived chamber music from New York-based pianist Richard Bennett.

From the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble, listen to the meditative drone strings and jazz-flute riffs of “Raga Etude.” Also, from the sister and brother duo Mythili Prakash and Aditya Prakash hear a mix of Indian ragas, brass band jazz, modern funk and global rhythms in music created for a collaborative performance featuring Shakti Dance Company. Then, hear music from Violinist Arun Ramamurthy's Trio, who combines Carnatic music, jazz, and the lilt & grit of American fiddle.

There’s also music from Kronos Quartet, and an arrangement of Raga Mishra Bhairavi, along with raga-derived chamber music from New York-based pianist Richard Bennett. Also, listen to music involving choir, bassoon and tambura from Kay Gardner, from an archival LP called A Rainbow Path. Plus, hear a microtonal raga by John Cage, inspired by Indian raga singing and more. 

PROGRAM #4011, inspired by ragas (First Aired: 8/9/2017)    

ARTIST: Richard Bennett
WORK: The Swan Swoons (raga hamsadwani part 1), excerpt [1:00]
RECORDING: New York City Swara
SOURCE: Times Music
INFO: nycswara.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Fifth House Ensemble
WORK: Baladino and Thomas Moded Blum: Raga Etude [4:35] 
RECORDING: Nedudim
SOURCE: Cedille Records CDR 90000 164
INFO: cedillerecords.org

ARTIST: Aditya Prakash Ensemble
WORK: Mara's Secret [4:16] 
RECORDING: Mara
SOURCE/INFO: adityaprakashensemble.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Richard Bennett
WORK: The Swan Soars  (raga hamsadwani part 2) [8:23] 
RECORDING: New York City Swara
SOURCE: Times Music
INFO: nycswara.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Kay Gardner
WORK: Processional: Root Chakra [Saraswali Raga in C] [5:15] 
RECORDING: A Rainbow Path
SOURCE: Ladyslipper Records 103 (1984) 
INFO: cduniverse.com

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Wu Man
WORK: Raga Mishra Bhairavi Alap  (Ram Narayan, arr. Kronos, transc. Ljova) [6:55] 
RECORDING: Floodplain
SOURCE: Nonesuch 518349
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: Arun Ramamurthy Trio
WORK: Maha G [7:20]
RECORDING: Jazz Carnatica
SOURCE/INFO: arunramamurthytrio.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Amelia Cuni, dhrupad vocals; Raymond Kaczynski, percussion; Federico Sanesi, percussion
WORK: John Cage: Microtonal Raga 13, Raga 15, Raga 7 [9:43]
RECORDING: John Cage’s SOLO 58 (18 microtonal ragas) -SONG BOOKS (1970)
SOURCE: Other Minds 1010
INFO: webstore.otherminds.org | ameliacuni.de

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