Master Sarodist Amjad Ali Khan's "Samaagam" for Sarod and Orchestra

Indian movie soundtracks have combined the western orchestra with Indian classical instruments for many years. Ravi Shankar has done much wonderful work for sitar and other classical instruments and orchestra.

When one of the Indian sarod's greatest living exponents creates a concerto for sarod and orchestra it is nevertheless an event. Amjad Ali Khan has done just that with Samaagam (World Village 468102) with of course himself on sarod and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under David Murphy.

Samaagam to my mind is a rousing success on every level, for the majesty and power of Amjad Ali Khan's sarod, for the orchestral parts and their realization on this recording, and for the total effect of the work as a unified piece of music. The orchestral plays in the spirit and with the tonal nuance and phrasing appropriate to the music.

The orchestra functions in several different ways: as a bringer of timbral color, as a "composite" player engaging with Pandit Khan in a musical dialog, and as the vehicle to express (both with and without the sarod) the sort of compositional themes one might hear in jugalbandi duets. Finally the orchestra plays more involved tutti segments that comment on the themes but in a kind of Indian raga melodicism combined with a western orchestral variational context.

What matters is that the music is successful, absorbing and well put together. It is performed with conviction and passion. I would rank this among the handful of orchestral-Indian classical masterworks I have had the pleasure and privilege to hear over the years. And as always Amjad Ali Khan is a marvel and delight to the ears and the musical soul. A triumph!

Pooja Goswami Pavan Sings Classic Indian Ghazals

Dr. Pooja Goswami Pavan is an enchanting classical Indian vocalist who currently calls Minnesota her home base. How Shall I Say? (Innova 232) is a captivating program of Ghazals performed in the Hindustani style.

The Ghazals are based on poetic texts ranging in time from the 18th century to the present day. They express the various refined emotional states typical of Indian classical music. Each Ghazal has a musical compositional element based on the forms of a particular rag. Three of the compositions are by Ms. Pavan herself.

These Ghazals are performed in a style that goes back to the twentieth-century master Indian vocalist Begum Akhtar. They are performed in the classical, almost timeless style of an earlier age. Overt vocal pyrotechnics are not at the forefront but instead a highly nuanced melding of text and an elaborate melodic singing style prevails. Dr. Pavan is accompanied sympathetically and movingly by some excellent Indian musicians on sarangi, harmonium and tabla.

I will come clean to say here that I have listened with care and rapture to some of India's greatest vocalists in recordings for many years. I do not have the knowledge of the adept. All I know is what I have heard in unmediated form. But based on that experience I can say truthfully that Pooja Goswami Pavan is an exquisite vocal master with a lovely expressive voice and an extraordinary facility with the phrasing and control of the complicated pitch sequences involved. She is relatively young so she will only get better, I should think.

In the meantime this is a valuable disk showing the sheer beauty of some wonderful Ghazals. It will be a disk I will treasure and come back to frequently as my life spins along. Highly recommended.