New Sounds

#4802, A Garland of Ragas

Episode Summary

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 CentreINFO:  vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com ARTIST: Rohan KrishnamurthyWORK: Paratpara [5:57]RECORDING: The Alaya ProjectSOURCE: The Alaya ProjectINFO: https://lnk.to/jF0pOVDa ARTIST: Brooklyn Raga MassiveWORK: In D: Bageshri [14:23]RECORDING: In DSOURCE: brooklynragamassive.orgINFO:  bkragamassive.bandcamp.com  ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Wu ManWORK: Ram Narayan: Raga Mishra Bhairavi - Alap [6:55]RECORDING: FloodplainSOURCE: NonesuchINFO: 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 CentreINFO:  vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com ARTIST: Faiyaz Wasifuddin DagarWORK: Raga Durga [9:02] RECORDING: NS live 7/24/00SOURCE: 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

Episode Notes

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 CentreINFO:  vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Rohan KrishnamurthyWORK: Paratpara [5:57]RECORDING: The Alaya ProjectSOURCE: The Alaya ProjectINFO: https://lnk.to/jF0pOVDa

ARTIST: Brooklyn Raga MassiveWORK: In D: Bageshri [14:23]RECORDING: In DSOURCE: brooklynragamassive.orgINFO:  bkragamassive.bandcamp.com 

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Wu ManWORK: Ram Narayan: Raga Mishra Bhairavi - Alap [6:55]RECORDING: FloodplainSOURCE: NonesuchINFO: 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 CentreINFO:  vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Faiyaz Wasifuddin DagarWORK: Raga Durga [9:02] RECORDING: NS live 7/24/00SOURCE: 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