Poster of Varanasi wrestlers
Pandit Hariprasad
Chaurasia, India’s greatest living flute player, was born in the ancient
and sacred city of Varanasi in 1938. His
father was a wrestler and the young Hariprasad
followed in his footsteps. Or tried to. It was soon clear that he was going through
the motions and his heart lay in music.
He studied singing initially with one of Varanasi’s many
master musicians, but fell in love with bansuri
(bamboo flute) after hearing Pandit
Bholanath, perform. He became Bholanath’s shishya (musical apprentice)
for nearly a decade and by the late 1950’s was composing and performing for All
India Radio out of Calcutta.
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| Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia |
He developed a close working relationship with the santoor player Shivkumar Sharma with whom he has collaborated on a number of
recordings, including the international bestseller Call of the Valley (with Brijbhusan
Kabra on guitar), as well as film soundtracks.
Panditji has spent his career reaching out
to new listeners and promoted not only the flute but Indian classical music
generally. In that process he has never
hesitated to work with musicians from other traditions and has a number of
collaborations with the jazz sax player Jan
Gabarek and guitar whiz John McLaughlin.
Tonight’s post is a album from the early 1980s recorded with
Zakir Hussain on tabla. Chaurasia’s innovative spirit is evident here as well in his
including Spanish guitar accompaniment on Raga
Ahir-Lalit. It is a brilliant touch. Sunil
Kaushik’s playing is perfectly pitched to the moody contemplative piece and
never veers into the dangerous ‘fusion-confusion’ territory.
The bansuri
remains the ultimate Indian musical instrument for me. None of others is able
to create so quickly or so strongly such vivid dusty pictures and deep feelings
for that illusive place (or is it just a state of mind?) called ‘India’.
Track
Listing:
01 Raga Ahir-Lalit
02 Raga Ahir-Lalat (Tal_ Roopak)
03 Dhun Sindhi Bhairvin
