Hundred Minute Raga Purabi Kalyan [Live]

Bay Area EXPRESS December 1991
...as fine an extended performance of classical Indian instrumental music as you will find on CD.

Product Description
This is the first half of the 1982 Berkeley concert. Mr. Banerjee played Misra Kafi after intermission, available on Raga Records CD Raga-204.

Hundred Minute Raga Purabi Kalyan [Live]

Tracks:

Alap (Sitar Solo): Alap Proper (Without Meter): 1. First Five Minutes (Recorded From Audience)
Alap (Sitar Solo): Alap Proper (Without Meter): 2. Dissolve Into High Fidelity Nagra Recording
Alap (Sitar Solo): Jor (With A Pulse)
Gats (Sitar & Tabla): Medium Tintal (16 Beat Rhythm Cycle)
Gats (Sitar & Tabla): Fast Tintal
Gats (Sitar & Tabla): Jhalla

Album Description

This is the first half of the 1982 Berkeley concert. Mr. Banerjee played Misra Kafi after intermission, available on Raga Records CD Raga-204.

Customer Reviews:

Unsurpassed sitarist.......2002-03-19

This album richly illustrates the simple fact that, with the possible exception of Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee is the supreme instrumentalist in living memory of the North Indian classical musical tradition. Such melodic expression in its sheer musicality, tonal perfection, and sublime creativity is far beyond the range of any other sitar player.

a masterpiece by a great artist.......1999-11-10

Pandit Nikhil Banerjee was one of the greatest sitar players of all times; a pupil of Ustad Allaudhin Khan (who also taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan), this musician has developed a unique and very lyrical style of playing.This cd features a very long rendition of the rare Rag Purabi Kalyan, a raga that ist seldomly played. Disc 1 features solely the (beatless) alap section, the first few minutes of which are from an audience recording (since the engineer at the soundboard apparently pressed "record" too late). This section, which has lots of hiss and distortion (but is still well listenable), can be skipped. The overall recording quality of rest of the the disc is excellent.
If you're not yet familiar with North Indian classical music, this disc may seem difficult - better try the excellent jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan first, which is far mor easily accessible to the untrained ear.
However, for experienced listeners and serious admirers of raga sangeet, this is a must-buy.