Before
tackling the elements of an American or Western raga, as suggested in a previous post, I
would like to take a side excursion: to
“…. return to the most basic response we
have when thunderstruck by a piece of beautiful music”. In this excursion, I want to share some of
the primary musical places that have affected me most deeply and are continuing
sources of inspiration, under the rubrics of “World Music” and “Western
Classical Music”…….
A
Sampler of Music for the Serious Guitar Improviser/ Explorer
WORLD
I came to the world of acoustic guitar exploration from a
background in both Western classical music and world music (just beginning to
open up in the West in the 1950’s and 1960’s).
Although I didn’t pursue a career as a classical guitarist (I still play
a limited repertoire and keep up technical exercises), the idea of a commitment
to the deepest and profoundest experiences that one can have in both Western
classical and world music is one that I still cherish.
I would like to provide here a smorgasbord of world music
experiences in the hope of widening and deepening the perspective of guitarists
who like me are exploring the possibilities of new music. I will not to even try to be comprehensive or
“informed” about this selection. I am
not an academic or an ethnographer, but an active musician myself. These samples come from a lifetime of my personal
enjoyment (and idiosyncratic taste).
What I do hope to share are some major places along the way that
continue to enrich my own musical journey, and hopefully to inspire yours to
new heights.
I have purposely included music here of some extended length. One of the aspects of exploratory music is
learning to appreciate a much larger sense of time itself. As the poet Gary Snyder once said to a fellow
worker: “It’s not a long trip; you’ve
just got a short mind.”
There are a few other things immediately noticeable about this
list. First, is that I am giving few
samples of music from Europe or the Americas.
I feel that most of the major traditions of music in all of these
countries already have a very prominent place in the consciousness of musicians
in America; most even have large
audiences and very active advocates promoting concerts and airtime. So I may only try to fill in a couple of less
known places in that Western panoply of music.
The other thing that may be less noticeable is that most of the music I
am bringing is not “folk music” per se.
Most of these recommendations come from court or classical traditions or
at the very least a “high society” form, rather than the folk and emergent
forms of musical play. This could in
itself be a subject for future discussion, but for now I will just note it
along the way. I hope the other unifying
feature of these selections is that they are all very strong “soul music”, big
in “rasa”.
INDIAN
SUBCONTINENT
I am a lifelong fan of the Hindustani classical tradition
of northern India. It was influenced by
the Islamic culture of the Mogul empires.
The music of the south, the Carnatic tradition, is perhaps more ancient,
associated more with the ancient Dravidian race, and tends to be more oriented
toward dance rhythms.
Although most people who know of Indian music at all
associate it with the sitar, I have from the first been a much bigger fan of
the “sarod”: approximately guitar-sized,
with a flat metal plate instead of a fretboard, and a timbre that is like a
bell-like cello.
Ali
Akbar Khan, sarod, performing (perhaps with Mahapurush Misra,
tabla)
Raga Chandranandan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CtXORtvvYM
Bismillah
Khan,
shehnai, with Vilayat Khan, sitar,
performing
Ali
Akbar Khan with his cousin Ravi
Shankar, sitar: a concert in 1972,
shortly after the death of Khan-sahib’s father Allauddin Khan, considered one
of the greatest musicians of all time in India
Shivkumar
Sharma, santoor
Here
with master tabla player Zakir Hussein: Raga
Kirwani, at a festival in Poona, with crickets!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mVYI_CaEPQ
Debashish
Battacharya, Indian slide guitar
Rajendra
Prasanna, bansuri
Sultan
Khan,
sarangi; Zakir Hussein, tabla: shorter Raag Basant
Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan, performing a “qawwali”
…………………………………………………………..
Far
East: JAPAN, CHINA, INDONESIA
Japanese
Koto by Shoko Murata: duet
with shakuhachi by Michio Miyagi: “Haru
No Umi”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29WgFkhv62w
Japanese
Koto by Nanae Yoshimura:
Miki “Autumn Fantasy” (more
modern exploration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQHimwCqctk
Tuvan
throat singing (a "solo duet" with higher harmonics)
Indonesia
gamelan
NEAR
EAST, AFRICA
Oud: in Arabic, this is “al oud”, which became “the
lute”, grandfather of the guitar
Djivan
Gasparyan, duduk (Armenian ney): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDmeeGXip6U&index=4&list=RDWl2yImS6gsk
Parviz
Meshkatian, Persian santoor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEWGtIzZARc&index=15&list=RDb9cZzCdT2M4
EUROPE
SOUTH AMERICA (some of
these could be classified as “classical”:
I only included them here because I love them so much)
HAWAII (you already know the slack key guitarists)
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Please let me know if any of these do something for you. Thanks.
