Fall into Me by Alev Lenz

 I had stopped listening to new music for a few years, probably because I was way too busy spending time with my young son. In 2020 I happened to hear an episode of Global Village, and that's where I discovered Alev Lenz in Anoushka Shankar's track Bright Eyes . Her voice blew me away. It was so accurate and so strong. Coming from a training in Indian classical music where slight changes in frequency alter the emotion conveyed, I was delighted to hear her doing something similar. Here is the track which I heard a number of times after that

Bowling for Peace by Prasanna

My musical friends have heard Prasanna, but somehow I haven't. I guess the speed and brilliance of Carnatic instrumentalists doesn't always let me catch the melody as much as I would like to. Today I hit upon a few pieces and I must say I like this one a lot. The melody and style in this piece seems to be heavily influenced by North Indian music. The tempo is just right. Beyond doubt Prasanna is one of the best instrumentalists of our age.

A small gem from Shankar and Gingger

I had found this on the shankarandgingger.com website when I was in college. Those were before the days of youtube and other similar sites, so music and videos could not be found so freely. I extracted the video (made using QuickTime) from the website (which was pretty easy in those days of simple HTML-based sites). I have heard it many times over the last 10 years or more and it doesn't grow old. I felt the world needs to hear this, so here goes.

A rarely-heard style on Indian violin

This is a special track, a rare one, a radio recital by Pt Joi Srivastava on the violin. He was a reclusive artist and teacher of North Indian classical music who lived most of his life in New Delhi. I have the fortune of learning violin from his grandson, which is what brought me in touch with his music. His playing outlines his personality -- deeply immersed in the depths of Indian classical music, yet totally against any glamour or show-off. The classical 'raag' being played is Vrindavani Saarang.

Valar Morghulis

Finally I have caught up with the worldwide craze -- The Game of Thrones. Here is a track from the season 2 OST which keeps on hovering in my mind.

Legends of the Fall theme

One of my old favourites from college time. James Horner's delicate use of piano, wind and string orchestra. Enjoy!

An article by Vidya Shah

http://www.india-seminar.com/2009/601/601_vidya_shah.htm

"‘NOBODY appreciates its great utility. People will certainly repent one day. The next decade will kill most of the leading musicians and scholars.’ In the year 1922, so wrote Pt. Vishnu Narayan Bhatkande, a seminal figure of Indian musicology, about the steady decline of Hindustani classical music in India in a letter to a close friend.^1..."

Nice read.

Ganga by Mrigya

I first heard this track in 2005, shortly after I arrived in Noida. It has become a cult by now and has been copied by multiple people. This song was born in 2001 when some musicians from some Delhi bands jammed together in a concert. It heralded the beginning of Mrigya -- one of the most melodious fusion bands ever. Mrigya completed 10 years of successful existence in 2011 and released a cd, from which this video is taken. You can find many live versions of this song on the net.

Tribute by Yanni

I discovered Yanni in 1997 at the age of 15. That was the year in which he came for a concert in India, in front of the Taj Mahal. My only source of music those days was the collection of cassettes in my home, and my own violin. Doordarshan was the only television network, and I only watched cartoons there.

As part of Yanni's tour promotion, a television series called 'Yanni's Monumental Passion' started airing on DD-Metro at 7:30 in the evening. I remember that Jayant Kripalani was the host. Well, what I remember most of all is that the music blew me away. I became a huge fan of Yanni. I have so many tracks of his which I still like till this day. But now, for the track which inspired me to write this post.... enjoy listening to it.

The Fellowship of the Ring

Just today I remembered a track from The Fellowship of the Ring which haunted me more than any of the more well-known tracks. It took me a while to find out out exact track, and it is a amazing creation by Howard Shore . Makes me go back to my college days when I used to search for good music everyday. I used to go through a particular site for movie soundtracks, and also search on p2p networks for anything fusion.

I discovered so much of the music I have heard in my entire life in my college and early working days. Now I seem to have lost that touch for discovery. My ears have found a never-ending thirst in North Indian classical, due to which I don't even get tired and look for anything else. But would my present taste and ear have been possible without my past relentless journey? I think not. I'll try to relive my past self in this blog.

The unknown violinist

This blog was never planned. I suddenly started it to find out something I have failed to do for the last 7 years. I downloaded a fabulous rendition of Amrithavarshini on violin from a violinist's site, but forgot the person's name (which is very unlikely for me). Upon my wife's suggestion, I am uploading the music here so that the entire internet population can identify the artist. Maybe the artist himself/herself will. The style resembles Lalgudi but it definitely is not the master himself -- I remember this much. So, here goes:

Amrithavarshini Alapana: 

Anandamrithavarshini