Mystic Sarod (review)

This recording, made at one of the premier recital halls in Kolkata for North Indian classical music, presents Amjad Ali Khan, one of the best-known artists in the current Hindustani music scene, in a live performance setting that reproduces a typical contemporary concert for the home audience. His accompanist, Sabir Khan, is one of the top performers of the current generation of tabla players, and is considered to be a leading exponent of the Banaras gharana.

As will be discussed in more detail below, this recording is, in almost every respect, a minimally adequate production, both in the production of the recording and the packaging and notes that accompany it. As a result, much of what I present as information about the recording is based on personal knowledge (or lack thereof) and interpretation rather than material included as part of the recording.

Judging by the content and pacing of the performance, this recording presents a typical second half of a concert. The introductory alap is perfunctory and moves to a quick conclusion after slightly more than 6 minutes. The remaining 45 minutes of gat, accompanied by tabla, move through a variety of ragas and tempos in a continuous stream, always in a rhythmic cycle of tintal, 16 beats. The mood is light, with many quick and surprising shifts of melodic invention and tempo. It can be assumed the first part of the program consisted of a more structured presentation of a single raga, with a full exposition of alap, jor and jhala, followed by gat.

The sound quality of the recording is adequate, as far as it goes. This disc was almost certainly produced as a soundboard recording from the stage microphones, which were placed very close to the instruments. If there is a tanpura being played on the stage to provide the customary drone, it has not been included in the mix and cannot be heard on the recording. Also, there is no sonic sense that the performance is occurring in a concert hall; the sound is absolutely dry, with no room sound at all. On a few occasions it is possible to hear some audience reaction or some of the typical stage comments made by the main artist in reaction to the tabla player's performance. There appears to have been no editing at all. Amjad spends an excessive amount of time over the course of the performance tuning his instrument, especially the lower two playing strings. Although the performance moves through five or six distinct phases, marked by change of raga, gat, tempo, etc., the recording as produced consists of a single track, without the section markings typically encoded on a compact disc.

The Music

The performance begins with Rag Desh. After finishing his tuning, Amjad performs an alap in light classical style, and begins a vilambit (slow) gat in tintal. Sabir Khan does not enter with the flourish of tabla improvisation typical of many performances, but restricts himself to the theka (rhythmic ostinato). His role as accompanist is extremely limited. He is given a space to improvise only twice during the over 20 minutes of vilambit tintal; the first time is not until nearly 7 minutes into the gat. During the entire performance there is virtually no interaction between the sarod and tabla. Amjad's performance is typical of his style, making use of a circumscribed repertoire of bols, or picking patterns, but executing them with great accuracy, precision, and speed. Constant rhythmic and register shifts add interest to his material. After 28 minutes, Amjad changes to a madhyalaya or medium tempo composition in an antique style (a family composition perhaps), and uses it as a...