Transcendantly Lovely
Fidel Ramirez Das Gupta | Silicon Valley | 06/05/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I own about two dozen Nikhil Banerjee recordings and this is one of my favorites. It's a transcendantly lovely performance of a particularly beautiful raga. Nobody plays an alap (slow, unmetered introduction) like the great Banerjee."
Banerjee in Amsterdam, brings the listner to the inner plane
Shawn Carter | Pheonix, AZ | 08/22/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
""My approach to music is very deep. I do not compromise with anybody or anything else in the world. I do not care. I want to really go beyond this materialistic world...not for the sake of enjoyment, entertainment, no. A musician must lift up the souls of the listeners, and take them towards Space." --Nikhil Banerjee
I spent 3 weeks in Amsterdam a couple of years back following a year of working on a ship. Besides being a beautiful place, the music scene was astounding; so creative and diverse. Posters promoting Stravinsky Ballet's, were next to Posters promoting West African Kora player Toumani Diabate's show at the concertgebouw and next to that were adverts for Jazz Saxophonist Wayne Shorter and his quartet. This is creative environment, and I can imagine Nikhil Banerjee felt comfortable and inspired in this setting. "Raag Hemant" is played beyond the restraints of lyrics, that many in the west (even after a century of outstanding jazz) seem to feel as being the ultimate form of expression. If one closes his eyes late at night with some headphones on, by the end of the "alap" you will begin to feel as if you are traveling somewhere. This feeling of travel is the feeling of moving to a higher state of consciousness. Enjoy
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Rotterdam is the one.
jim g. | houston,tx | 11/12/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The Rotterdam recording quality is much better, superb by any standards I can imagine. There are two sessions. The first is more atmospheric and with more extended high frequency information. The second has a closer perspective and the better sounding to me. The first one sounds like it's EQ'ed up a bit. The second is more full bodied with deeper tone and the more satisfying musically, as well, to me. Sublime stuff."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1
