Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang
Kamalesh Maitra
Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang
Boomkat Product Review:
The most entrancing release yet in Black Truffle's ongoing series of Indian archival releases, this one finds tabla master Kamalesh Maitra re-imagining the Raag Kirwani using the tabla tarang, a rarely used set of microtonally tuned tablas. A rhythmelodic masterclass, this'll be crucial listening for anyone into Shackleton, Daniel Schmidt or even Mark Fell.
Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Maitra's birth, 'Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang' was recorded in Berlin (where Maitra worked as a music teacher) back in 1985, snipped from the same sessions that birthed his self-released solo full-length 'Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums'. At this stage in his career, he was well known across the world; not only had he played alongside Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, but he'd formed a group, the Ragatala Ensemble, with some of his students, that helped him figure out the nexus points between Indian classical music, jazz and European sounds. Some of those players - Laura Patchen, Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos, who handle tabla and tanpura, respectively - appear on this album, but this is a chance for Maitra to take the central role, and it's his virtuosic tarang performance that has us gripped. The instrument was devised in the late 19th century, made from an array of 10 to 16 tuned hand drums, and it was never intended to be used as a solo concert instrument. So Maitra's innovation, using the percussive notes to follow melodies usually sung or played on sarod, makes this material particularly unique.
He offers a startling rendition of the Raag Kirwani, a late night raag that's a great example of sringara rasa, or romantic flavor, using love's spectrum of emotions to help portray our relationship to the divine. And there's something even more ineffable about Maitra's treatment, where his resonant tuned hits are formed into brittle, weightless melodies - the piece is a well-known standard, but it's rare to hear it quite like this. The alap, or improvised opening section, is particularly impressive; here, Maitra plays what's usually a beatless section accompanied by tanpura, and picks out the melodic phrases using the drums. So when the piece speeds up and picks up rhythm (aided by Patchen's tabla) in the jor, it sounds like a celestial release of energy. Maitra avoids playing identifiable rhythms, leaving that part to Patchen, and stretches the tarang to its limit, demonstrating its power as the focal point in an ensemble. There's really nothing else quite like this - there are similarities between the tarang and a set of gamelan instruments, or possibly a large xylophone, but the hollowness of the tabla gives it a sound all of its own. Magical stuff.
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Boomkat Product Review:
The most entrancing release yet in Black Truffle's ongoing series of Indian archival releases, this one finds tabla master Kamalesh Maitra re-imagining the Raag Kirwani using the tabla tarang, a rarely used set of microtonally tuned tablas. A rhythmelodic masterclass, this'll be crucial listening for anyone into Shackleton, Daniel Schmidt or even Mark Fell.
Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Maitra's birth, 'Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang' was recorded in Berlin (where Maitra worked as a music teacher) back in 1985, snipped from the same sessions that birthed his self-released solo full-length 'Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums'. At this stage in his career, he was well known across the world; not only had he played alongside Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, but he'd formed a group, the Ragatala Ensemble, with some of his students, that helped him figure out the nexus points between Indian classical music, jazz and European sounds. Some of those players - Laura Patchen, Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos, who handle tabla and tanpura, respectively - appear on this album, but this is a chance for Maitra to take the central role, and it's his virtuosic tarang performance that has us gripped. The instrument was devised in the late 19th century, made from an array of 10 to 16 tuned hand drums, and it was never intended to be used as a solo concert instrument. So Maitra's innovation, using the percussive notes to follow melodies usually sung or played on sarod, makes this material particularly unique.
He offers a startling rendition of the Raag Kirwani, a late night raag that's a great example of sringara rasa, or romantic flavor, using love's spectrum of emotions to help portray our relationship to the divine. And there's something even more ineffable about Maitra's treatment, where his resonant tuned hits are formed into brittle, weightless melodies - the piece is a well-known standard, but it's rare to hear it quite like this. The alap, or improvised opening section, is particularly impressive; here, Maitra plays what's usually a beatless section accompanied by tanpura, and picks out the melodic phrases using the drums. So when the piece speeds up and picks up rhythm (aided by Patchen's tabla) in the jor, it sounds like a celestial release of energy. Maitra avoids playing identifiable rhythms, leaving that part to Patchen, and stretches the tarang to its limit, demonstrating its power as the focal point in an ensemble. There's really nothing else quite like this - there are similarities between the tarang and a set of gamelan instruments, or possibly a large xylophone, but the hollowness of the tabla gives it a sound all of its own. Magical stuff.
Boomkat Product Review:
The most entrancing release yet in Black Truffle's ongoing series of Indian archival releases, this one finds tabla master Kamalesh Maitra re-imagining the Raag Kirwani using the tabla tarang, a rarely used set of microtonally tuned tablas. A rhythmelodic masterclass, this'll be crucial listening for anyone into Shackleton, Daniel Schmidt or even Mark Fell.
Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Maitra's birth, 'Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang' was recorded in Berlin (where Maitra worked as a music teacher) back in 1985, snipped from the same sessions that birthed his self-released solo full-length 'Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums'. At this stage in his career, he was well known across the world; not only had he played alongside Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, but he'd formed a group, the Ragatala Ensemble, with some of his students, that helped him figure out the nexus points between Indian classical music, jazz and European sounds. Some of those players - Laura Patchen, Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos, who handle tabla and tanpura, respectively - appear on this album, but this is a chance for Maitra to take the central role, and it's his virtuosic tarang performance that has us gripped. The instrument was devised in the late 19th century, made from an array of 10 to 16 tuned hand drums, and it was never intended to be used as a solo concert instrument. So Maitra's innovation, using the percussive notes to follow melodies usually sung or played on sarod, makes this material particularly unique.
He offers a startling rendition of the Raag Kirwani, a late night raag that's a great example of sringara rasa, or romantic flavor, using love's spectrum of emotions to help portray our relationship to the divine. And there's something even more ineffable about Maitra's treatment, where his resonant tuned hits are formed into brittle, weightless melodies - the piece is a well-known standard, but it's rare to hear it quite like this. The alap, or improvised opening section, is particularly impressive; here, Maitra plays what's usually a beatless section accompanied by tanpura, and picks out the melodic phrases using the drums. So when the piece speeds up and picks up rhythm (aided by Patchen's tabla) in the jor, it sounds like a celestial release of energy. Maitra avoids playing identifiable rhythms, leaving that part to Patchen, and stretches the tarang to its limit, demonstrating its power as the focal point in an ensemble. There's really nothing else quite like this - there are similarities between the tarang and a set of gamelan instruments, or possibly a large xylophone, but the hollowness of the tabla gives it a sound all of its own. Magical stuff.
Boomkat Product Review:
The most entrancing release yet in Black Truffle's ongoing series of Indian archival releases, this one finds tabla master Kamalesh Maitra re-imagining the Raag Kirwani using the tabla tarang, a rarely used set of microtonally tuned tablas. A rhythmelodic masterclass, this'll be crucial listening for anyone into Shackleton, Daniel Schmidt or even Mark Fell.
Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Maitra's birth, 'Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang' was recorded in Berlin (where Maitra worked as a music teacher) back in 1985, snipped from the same sessions that birthed his self-released solo full-length 'Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums'. At this stage in his career, he was well known across the world; not only had he played alongside Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, but he'd formed a group, the Ragatala Ensemble, with some of his students, that helped him figure out the nexus points between Indian classical music, jazz and European sounds. Some of those players - Laura Patchen, Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos, who handle tabla and tanpura, respectively - appear on this album, but this is a chance for Maitra to take the central role, and it's his virtuosic tarang performance that has us gripped. The instrument was devised in the late 19th century, made from an array of 10 to 16 tuned hand drums, and it was never intended to be used as a solo concert instrument. So Maitra's innovation, using the percussive notes to follow melodies usually sung or played on sarod, makes this material particularly unique.
He offers a startling rendition of the Raag Kirwani, a late night raag that's a great example of sringara rasa, or romantic flavor, using love's spectrum of emotions to help portray our relationship to the divine. And there's something even more ineffable about Maitra's treatment, where his resonant tuned hits are formed into brittle, weightless melodies - the piece is a well-known standard, but it's rare to hear it quite like this. The alap, or improvised opening section, is particularly impressive; here, Maitra plays what's usually a beatless section accompanied by tanpura, and picks out the melodic phrases using the drums. So when the piece speeds up and picks up rhythm (aided by Patchen's tabla) in the jor, it sounds like a celestial release of energy. Maitra avoids playing identifiable rhythms, leaving that part to Patchen, and stretches the tarang to its limit, demonstrating its power as the focal point in an ensemble. There's really nothing else quite like this - there are similarities between the tarang and a set of gamelan instruments, or possibly a large xylophone, but the hollowness of the tabla gives it a sound all of its own. Magical stuff.
Includes a 4-page booklet with archival photos and liner notes by Laura Patrchen, plus a download.
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Boomkat Product Review:
The most entrancing release yet in Black Truffle's ongoing series of Indian archival releases, this one finds tabla master Kamalesh Maitra re-imagining the Raag Kirwani using the tabla tarang, a rarely used set of microtonally tuned tablas. A rhythmelodic masterclass, this'll be crucial listening for anyone into Shackleton, Daniel Schmidt or even Mark Fell.
Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Maitra's birth, 'Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang' was recorded in Berlin (where Maitra worked as a music teacher) back in 1985, snipped from the same sessions that birthed his self-released solo full-length 'Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums'. At this stage in his career, he was well known across the world; not only had he played alongside Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, but he'd formed a group, the Ragatala Ensemble, with some of his students, that helped him figure out the nexus points between Indian classical music, jazz and European sounds. Some of those players - Laura Patchen, Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos, who handle tabla and tanpura, respectively - appear on this album, but this is a chance for Maitra to take the central role, and it's his virtuosic tarang performance that has us gripped. The instrument was devised in the late 19th century, made from an array of 10 to 16 tuned hand drums, and it was never intended to be used as a solo concert instrument. So Maitra's innovation, using the percussive notes to follow melodies usually sung or played on sarod, makes this material particularly unique.
He offers a startling rendition of the Raag Kirwani, a late night raag that's a great example of sringara rasa, or romantic flavor, using love's spectrum of emotions to help portray our relationship to the divine. And there's something even more ineffable about Maitra's treatment, where his resonant tuned hits are formed into brittle, weightless melodies - the piece is a well-known standard, but it's rare to hear it quite like this. The alap, or improvised opening section, is particularly impressive; here, Maitra plays what's usually a beatless section accompanied by tanpura, and picks out the melodic phrases using the drums. So when the piece speeds up and picks up rhythm (aided by Patchen's tabla) in the jor, it sounds like a celestial release of energy. Maitra avoids playing identifiable rhythms, leaving that part to Patchen, and stretches the tarang to its limit, demonstrating its power as the focal point in an ensemble. There's really nothing else quite like this - there are similarities between the tarang and a set of gamelan instruments, or possibly a large xylophone, but the hollowness of the tabla gives it a sound all of its own. Magical stuff.
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