This classical album captures one of the highlights of the 2005 Saptak festival, a twelve day annual celebration of India’s finest musical talents held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The maestro Ustaad Rashid Khan’s consummate rendition of Raga Jogkauns held the packed house at the Kashiram Hall spellbound on the evening of the 7th January 2005 with a performance reaffirming his status as a doyen of North Indian Khayal singing.
Raga Jogkauns is an ingenious musical concept created by Jagannathbuwa Purohit Gunidas in the middle part of the last century, making it reatively modern by Indian music standards. It successfully combines Raga Jog and Raga Chandrakauns, two of India’s most popular and distinctive ragas, creating a new raga with its own personality.
The recital begins with a soulful alap outlining the main melodic phrases of the raga. Most of Rashid Khan’s performance is then taken up with an extended exposition of the raga in Vilambit Ektaal, a slow tempo twelve beat rhythm cycle. Throughout the recital Murad Ali’s bowed Sarangi skillfully echoes the singer’s melodic patterns. Above all else Rashid Khan’s music captures the essence of ‘Tasir’, that rare quality which describes the ability of an artist to create a genuinely felt emotional response from the listener. The other accompanists include Gopal Krishna on the Tabla & Mehmood Dhaulpuri on the Harmonium.
This album will be loved by all classical audiences.
CDs available on Times Music @ Rs. 295/-