Ali Akbar Khan with Zakir Hussain
Evening Ragas (Live in San Francisco)
Originally released on cassette in 1979, this transcendent set from sarod master Ali Akbar Khan sees him accompanied by his student and expert tabla player Zakir Hussein. At the time when this was recorded, Hussein was the head of the tabla department at the Ali Akbar College of Music and each summer Khan and Hussein would perform at a large concert, playfully engaging the audience with their stunning collaboration. This specific set was captured in San Francisco and is typically moving – wrestling the soul out of place with as Hussein’s insanely complex rhythms pound and trill beneath Khan’s lilting sarod. While this is Indian classical music to its core, there is something truly universal about Khan’s sound. The melodies are rich with melancholy but are strangely hopeful, they are meditative but far from the lazy stoner drivel one might associate with the new age scene. Transcendent is simply the best way to explain ‘Evening Ragas’, so prepare to be taken away to another place.
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Originally released on cassette in 1979, this transcendent set from sarod master Ali Akbar Khan sees him accompanied by his student and expert tabla player Zakir Hussein. At the time when this was recorded, Hussein was the head of the tabla department at the Ali Akbar College of Music and each summer Khan and Hussein would perform at a large concert, playfully engaging the audience with their stunning collaboration. This specific set was captured in San Francisco and is typically moving – wrestling the soul out of place with as Hussein’s insanely complex rhythms pound and trill beneath Khan’s lilting sarod. While this is Indian classical music to its core, there is something truly universal about Khan’s sound. The melodies are rich with melancholy but are strangely hopeful, they are meditative but far from the lazy stoner drivel one might associate with the new age scene. Transcendent is simply the best way to explain ‘Evening Ragas’, so prepare to be taken away to another place.
Originally released on cassette in 1979, this transcendent set from sarod master Ali Akbar Khan sees him accompanied by his student and expert tabla player Zakir Hussein. At the time when this was recorded, Hussein was the head of the tabla department at the Ali Akbar College of Music and each summer Khan and Hussein would perform at a large concert, playfully engaging the audience with their stunning collaboration. This specific set was captured in San Francisco and is typically moving – wrestling the soul out of place with as Hussein’s insanely complex rhythms pound and trill beneath Khan’s lilting sarod. While this is Indian classical music to its core, there is something truly universal about Khan’s sound. The melodies are rich with melancholy but are strangely hopeful, they are meditative but far from the lazy stoner drivel one might associate with the new age scene. Transcendent is simply the best way to explain ‘Evening Ragas’, so prepare to be taken away to another place.