I cant hear that stuff Chris, it sounds like someones randomly alternating the pressure squeezing on a dogs chew toy to the rhythm of a sporadic drumline... with a violin thrown in. She's beautiful as all get out tho. everyones sweating too much, and ill bet that incense is being burned, and yep, you guessed it, a statue of buddha somewhere...the lobby? indian food, oh jeez wheres the mens room... ---------- Kyzer's Travels
p.s. im just giving you shit... its good, as that kind of music goes.. im certain it would make more of an impression on me if i heard it live. ---------- Kyzer's Travels
here's another one. Consider that she is 20 something and has written all of this beautiful music, has such command over a very very difficult instrument and that glowing presence. She exudes more soul and spirit than most everybody here. I'm amazed by her and I don't use those words lightly.
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
when someone is given the opportunity to practice since birth, it doesnt surprise me. in her 20 somethings? yeah with 17 years experience. i think most anyone could do something very soulful and with great spirit as an adult if its taught to you along with your A,B,C's and basic motor skills. To me that's just as much a product of her upbringing. one that most can never have. ---------- Kyzer's Travels
don't forget that SHE made the choice to learn Sitar. Its not like her dad was a great family man.
How many are that good after 40 years of experience? No many. How many people on this list brag about their xx years of experience yet not all of us combined can attain the level of music she does.
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
Sounds good to me. I remember months ago you made a thread of inspirational music videos that I really liked that included a clip of Ustad Shahid Parvez that I also liked. I can't tell the difference between a great and okay sitar player, not familiar enough with the instrument. Thanks for sharing!
---------- ~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
shahid is still my favorite along with Nikhil Banerjee
But Anoushka is very fresh and taking things in a new direction. She's very groovy for that style of music.
Listen to 2:07-2:33 thats something you can do on a harmonica, imagine a person like Jason playing that figure. It's damn groovy. 3:02 -end is about as intense as you can get with music. I love it.
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
Buddha, I suggest that you could dig a little further what sitar players (or indian music, or fusion music for that matter) have to offer.
Anoushka is just not a good musician, and that shows on your vid. She's stiff, unimaginative, and she rely mostly on well worn tricks. Although he doesn't have any space to tell it, the great guy here is the tabla player. Anoushka is a household joke among musicians in India.
I'm sorry to be harsher that I should, but I feel that her over-exposition in the west just obliterate what her instrument has to offer. It's just that, for most, she is the only sitar player that they would ever have the chance to listen to.
And, on experience, you're partially right, she plays much better today than when she started touring (when she played plain awful). So, maybe 40 years from now...
she's totally fresh to my ears. Her early stuff wasn't great but her newer stuff is very creative and energetic. She doesn't carry a lot of the bitter energy many have when the play.
Who is your favorite sitar player? I've already mentioned Shahid Parvez and Nikhil Banerjee
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
I saw her and her father about two years ago here in Tucson and she totally kicked butt. Yea the tabla player was good but to see a female sitar player with her chops was quite inspiring. She made the show worthwhile - and I've been seeing Ravi play for decades.
Sorry, Buddha, I didn't answer your question. And sorry again, I don't have any favorite sitar player.
The two you mentionned are great musicians (Nikhilji was more than great). I guess you already know the big names. Of the lesser known, you could check Budhaditya Mukherjee (he has CDs, he may be on Youtube,and his first name would be of interest to you). Or Balaram Pathak (has only recorded 1 CD for all his life, Ocora serie), who was the only one I know to have played harmonic notes on sitar, and was the sweetest person you could imagine.
Maybe I must apologize for my take on Anoushka. I was just playing the witty guy there, and you're absolutely legitimate to like her music.
The fact is that I find that indian music often draw strange appreciations, sometimes plain weird. It's just ("just"!) music. Ravi Shankar used to tell the story, that when he was playing at a festival (maybe Woodstock), the people would applause when he was just tuning his instrument, thinking it was the real deal.
There's, of course, no need to be a conoisseur to appreciate that kind of music. Indian concerts end in total frenzy, but the beginning is a slow unmetered part, boring for some, but where some essential and very universaly musical questions are exposed : how do I convey the feeling of my piece, how do I introduce each note of the mode, which way do I take from one note to the other. You can't only rely on tricks there.
And, to make that thread a little less OT, I find that kind of questions totally relevent with my wannabe blues harp playing.
"Ravi Shankar used to tell the story, that when he was playing at a festival (maybe Woodstock), the people would applause when he was just tuning his instrument, thinking it was the real deal."
I saw Bill Frisell at a gig in Nottingham. He started off with one of his weirder soundscape pieces. A lot of the audience, just thinking they were going to see a straight ahead jazz guitarist, assumed he was tuning up. Ten minutes later, when he was still going, several of them got up and left. It's the Ravi Shankar effect in reverse.
What is never said in Ravi Shankar bios is that, first of all, he is a dancer.
He first came to Europe and US in his teens with his elder brother troup, and experienced the incredible interest of western audiences for indian arts. Only after that he came back to India to seek music guidance with Allaudin Khan (father of Ali Akbar).
And one of the reason why he made it in the west, apart of course from his more than excellent musicianship, was that he was about the only indian musician to speak english ! That was a time when most musicians were from muslim lineage, illiterate, and, contrary to the legend, treated like dirt.
He opened new grounds for musicians who just lost court tutelages after the independance of India, and had to find other ways to make a living.
I just know that this kind of music moves me in some way--it kind of reminds me of all the times back in the 60's when we got loaded and listened to Ravi and tried to see who could get the most naked ladies into a sleeping bag with him--er--it also reminds me of really aesthetic shit too, but I forget what it is. . .
