#4802, A Garland of Ragas
Listen to an hour of music inspired by or built directly on Indian ragas in work by the California-based Alaya Project, New York collective Brooklyn Raga Massive, and an exclusive in-studio performance by dhrupad singer Wasifuddin Dagar. Plus, a collaboration between Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett.
California trio The Alaya Project combines classical Carnatic ragas, contemporary jazz and funk on saxophone, accordion, and percussion. From their self-titled record, hear drummer, percussionist and polymath Rohan Krishnamurthy, Carnatic saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan and keyboardist and accordionist Colin Hogan in a piece, “Paratpara”, which means “transcendence”, or “Greatest of the Greats”.
Then, listen to New York Collective Brooklyn Raga Massive, and a portion of their “In D,” which is the key that the sitar plays in. “In D” is a tribute to Terry Riley’s landmark work, In C, based on the concepts of musical packets that can be played in any order and moved around at will and repeated. The recording features Terry Riley’s son, Gyan Riley, on guitar as well as Andy Statman on mandolin.
Also, listen to work guided by ragas from a collaboration between Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett “centered around a devotion to just intonation tuning, deep listening, and resonant spaces,” (Bandcamp liner notes.) Hear the Michael Harrison-tuned piano capable of tiny tones in Rag Tilang. Plus, there’s a raga recorded live in-studio from Wasifuddin Dagar, a vocalist in the ancient Indian tradition known as dhrupad, from the unbroken 20-generation chain of performers in the Dagar family. And more. - Caryn Havlik
#4802, A Garland of Ragas (First aired 10/12/2023)
ARTIST: Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett
WORK: Tilang [1:00]
RECORDING: Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett
SOURCE: Séance Centre
INFO: vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Rohan Krishnamurthy
WORK: Paratpara [5:57]
RECORDING: The Alaya Project
SOURCE: The Alaya Project
INFO: https://lnk.to/jF0pOVDa
ARTIST: Brooklyn Raga Massive
WORK: In D: Bageshri [14:23]
RECORDING: In D
SOURCE: brooklynragamassive.org
INFO: bkragamassive.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Wu Man
WORK: Ram Narayan: Raga Mishra Bhairavi - Alap [6:55]
RECORDING: Floodplain
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett
WORK: Tilang [8:42]
RECORDING: Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett
SOURCE: Séance Centre
INFO: vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar
WORK: Raga Durga [9:02]
RECORDING: NS live 7/24/00
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Wasif Dagar's father and uncle have recorded numerous classic CDs of Indian dhrupad as the "Dagar Brothers." Try Spotify, AppleMusic, iHeart, Amazon.com
