#darbarfestival | Kushal Das explores the enchantment of Raag Jog using the surbahar’s deep tones, patiently exploring the contours of each note of the alap.
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If a few brief minutes of Kushal aren't enough…watch his full 52-minute performance of Raag Jhinjhoti in pristine HD on the Darbar Player, along with dozens of other captivating concerts: www.darbarplayer.com/videos/d...
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Learn more about the music:
Kushal Das is equally adept on the sitar and its larger ancestor, the surbahar. His learning started in the family, a varied group of Maihar gharana musicians. His grandfather played the esraj, his uncle trained under sarod great Ali Akbar Khan, and his father was a sitarist who received instruction from Ravi Shankar. But his training was atypical in some ways - his family never pressured him to take up classical music, letting him play through film songs to acquaint himself with the techniques. However he soon realised his calling, and worked hard to capture the nuances of his idols - Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, and Ravi Shankar. Kushal uses a first-hand understanding of vocal music to expand the mellifluous phrasings of his string playing, bending patiently around both his instruments in a gharana-blending style. Hear more of him here:
-Bhimpalasi (sitar) | • Sublime Raag Bhimpalas...
-Shuddh Basant (sitar) | • Springtime Shuddh Basa...
-North Meets South | • Sublime | Pandit Kush...
Raag Jog seeks to conjure a ‘state of enchantment’. It a commonly-played raga with a finely balanced mix of major and minor phrases, popular among Western listeners due to its almost bluesy tension. Its wide interval jumps give a spacious melodic feel. It ascends as SGmPnS, but descends with a characteristic ‘Gmg zigzag’ to form SnPmGmgS. It favours strong phrasings, often starting on Ga, and Pa is usually considered to be the vadi [king note]. Listen to more of Raag Jog here:
-Shivkumar Sharma (santoor) | • Sparkling Raag Jog | P...
-Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri) | • Rakesh Chaurasia | Jor...
-Pravin Godkhindi (bansuri) | • Awe-inspiring Raag Jog...
-Pelva Naik (dhrupad vocal) | • Video
Recorded for Darbar on location in India
-Kushal Das (surbahar)
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