If Only...
Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 12/22/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"...this release had been better recorded! That's the only thing that keeps this from being 5 stars. Sonically, on higher-intensity passages, and higher notes, Dhruba's sarangi sometimes kinda breaks up. Through no fault of his technique or anything like that... it's all due to how this was recorded.
I'm not sure why this is listed here as a "cd single". This is a full album... Raga Yaman breaks down as 32 minutes & 44 seconds of alap and slow gat in ektal, followed by a 19 minute & 33 second fast gat in tintal. Then an 18 minute & 15 second gat (tintal) in Raga Hemant.
Within the past couple weeks I reviewed another rendering of Raga Yaman by another sarangi player (Ustad Sultan Khan), and as much as I love that performance, this one is better. If this disc had been recorded at as high a quality as the Sultan Khan disc, this would certainly be the 5-star release. As it is, this is still an essential purchase, it's just that sometimes the sound is not what it could and should be. The performance makes up for the shortcomings of the recording.
Brothers Dhruba and Nayan create a mini miracle here. Dhruba's style is so introspective... so sad and contemplative. As I've said before, to me the sarangi always sounds like the earth is weeping, but Dhruba just may be the king at this. The songs of the humpback whales flow out of him.
I remember initially being surprised (and disappointed) that the alap here is only a few minutes long, but then by the end of that long, beautiful, slow gat, I didn't miss the alap at all.
After the incredible Yaman comes a 19-minute gat in Raga Hemant.. one of the famed Ustad Allauddin Khan's creations. There's certainly nothing wrong with this, but to a certan extent, anything would have been a bit of a let-down after the preceedings in Raga Yaman.
Be sure to pick this one up. You won't regret it.
"
Track Listings (3) - Disc #1