World Music in 2006

Wonderful tips, as always. Happy New Year to you, Jacques, and to all the cool people on this Tribe.

waltsnipe

Karsh Kalle's Broken English album, due out on March 21, now has its own homepage on the Six Degrees Records website. You can read a full write-up on the album, incuding information about its concept and key collaborators

www.sixdegreesrecords.com/artists.php

My favorite CD right now is Midival Punditz.....'Midival Times'

You can hear a sample at www.sixdegreesrecords.com

I am an avid collecter of World Music and off to WOMAdelaide for our family reunion in March :D Very exciting.....

I am new here and very happy to find this group...

Cheers and thanks

Cas

Day 1

After a 7-hour marathon flight from Taipei (on which I kept on rewinding the fabulous musical scenes from the Bollywood hit on the inflight movies on demand--ok, it was also useful as a Hindi listening comprehension exercise ;P), a three-hour sleep at the Delhi airport dorm (amid a backdrop of continuous Hindi pop playing, including a rather good version of a Stevie Wonder song with beautiful Indian female vocals and the whistling from opening of the title track of Main Hoon Na, among others), and a 45-min flight to the fabled city of Jaipur, it was straight to festival hub, Diggi Palace, to meet fellow world music sojourners and friends.

The opening program for the festival on Saturday night could not have been more dramatic with the Amer Fort serving as a superb backdrop location (on a full moon night, no less) for the Sufi Kathak music and dance performance featuring the Rajasthani Manganiyars and Awadhi qawwali musicians and of course, dancer Manjari Chaturvedi. She is a renowned classical dancer who has been credited in India with expanding the dance borders of kathak by dancing to sufi, qawwali, Kashmiri, Persian, and Turkmen music.

The musicians started doing the soundcheck at 6:30 pm and the program started at 7. A festival regular in our group remarked that it was a bigger, raised stage at Amer fort this year compared to last year when the stage was closer to ground level around which the audience sat for a more intimate performance. Nevertheless, once the qawwali musicians started and the singers started singing, we knew we were in for a spectacular night of amazing world music!

I can attest to Darshank's comment under the L Subramaniam thread that there is indeed nothing like experiencing qawwali live! The Sufi devotional singing just soared from the stage to the night sky above Amer fort in a fitting praise of the Almighty, and dancer Manjari made her entranced, dressed in full dancer's regalia with multiple layers and dupatta veil. Her opening number addressed the unique fusion of kathak moves and Sufi-inspired moves, including whirling reminiscent of dervishes dancing, the effect of which was accentuated by her costume in motion in the cool, breezy air of a Jaipur winter night.

The second number with the dramatic notes of that famous instrument, the sarangi, leading into a very fine performance of Indian classical dance and music by Manjari and the musicians. Here, we had a chance to identify more classical kathak moves and choreography.

The third number was a chance for the Rajasthani musicians to showcase their unique Rajasthani interpretation of the legendary sufi qawwali compositions of Kabir. We, the audience, were enthralled by the ecstatically beautiful expressions, through the perfect tableau of music and dance, of praise for the Beloved and the Almighty. As a matter of fact, a few in our group continued discussing this aspect/theme of Sufism and qawwali music for hours into the night (and the early hours of the dawn!), long after the performance ended. More on this conversation in subsequent paragraphs.

Next came a refreshing interlude in the form of an extended interplay between the tabla and kartal (castanet) players. Someone started passing fresh roses among our group in the audience. The honey-tinged perfume of the desi rose, the cool night air of Jaipur under a full moon, and the amazing music and dance expression of Sufi kathak was the most divine combination ever enclosed in that precious moment of time.

The Sufi philosophy was clearly expounded in the night's performance. As the bilingual (Hindi-English) explained, the lyrics of the next number goes a little something like this

I am him
You become me
I am the soul
You are the body
And together we will always be one

Eight perfect numbers fusing kathak dance and Sufi-inspired music was performed that nite. Dancer Manjari's moves was a sight to behold--at times languid, at times nimble, like a doll, but always flowing--inspired by Love, mortal love for one's beloved, and immortal love for the Divine. The closing number was danced to the familiar strains of Dama dam mast kalandar which many of us overseas know as the qawwali anthem "Ali" popularized in the West by the late great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and in a recent worldtronica fusion version by the MIDIval PunditZ with vocalist Kailash Kher.

When the performance ended, we felt so filled and nourished spiritually and sensorally, that even as our group returned to Diggi palace for dinner and refreshments, this world music traveler scarcely felt any hunger, opting instead for a pot of ginger-laced chai in preparation for the nightlong festivities including the opening party featuring the pride of the Delhi-based Indotronica scene, the MIDIval PunditZ.

The official opening party for the festival was held at The Factory, Mann Industries, a converted former autofactory in the vicinity of the rail station, transformed into a cavernous dance club complete with an entrance via a groove tunnel! Arriving at 11:30 pm, we saw a packed crowd and the opening set by Jaipur-based dj Kooldeep, spinning a masalatastic set of world music-inflected urban rnb and hiphop grooves, including reggae (the dhol mix of UB40), Arabic (the DJ Manish Arabhangra remix of Shakira and Alejandro Sanz's La Tortura), Shamur's Let The Music Play (a crossover hit in Turkey last summer with its irresistible hook and that Jamaicanized sufi-inspired rap), and the Rishi Rich bhangrafied version of Ricky Martin's Que Mas Da/I Don't Care.

At 12:15 am, the headlining act, Tapan Raj and Gaurav Raina came on stage behind laptops and mixers located on two tables located diametrically opposite each other for their live Indotronica show. The brought on a female vocalist, Preeti Manoj, who opened with the familiar opening soaring notes of Piya Bhavari. Next came male vocalist Azam who gave equally ecstatic renditions of a Khayal, a favorite from the MIDIval Times album. All along, Tapan gave a running commentary on the tracks, starting off with the downtempo numbers and working on to more uptempo grooves. The artists on the stage were also joined by musician Ajay Prasand on live flute (no less than six different ones!)

A few on the packed dancefloor were able to get their groove on to the slower numbers, and by the time the PunditZ blasted off the backing track of Ali from their laptops with live
singing by Azam, the floor was in a dancing frenzy. This live Indotronica showcase went on till 1:30 am, after which a dj took over the decks spinning trance and tribal/progressive dance music with a few choice worldtronica nuggets including the album version of Ali and Gaudi's Sufani (a hit in India following its inclusion in the Bollywood movie, Rog).

Vocalists Preeti and Azam, along with members of the PunditZ entourage descended on the dancefloor to join in the revelers' dancing and before long, even Tapan and Gaurav were on the dancefloor. We danced all the waytill 2:30 am, after which an autorickshaw ride (an experience unto itself!) took us back to Diggi Palace in the early hours of Sunday morning. Still overwhelmed by the fabulous world music, fusion, and dance of the previous morning, a couple of us chatted and discussed the evening's performance, delving deeper into the main tenets of Sufi philosphy and comparative ecstasis-spiritual artforms, until sleep overcame us just before dawn.

Next up, a report of day 2 (just yesterday!) and Paban Das Baul's stunning performance at the inaugural Culture Club event!

Another upcoming release set for spring is Trans-Global Underground "Impossible Broadcasting" remixed. with mixes done Thievery Corporation, Kamel Nitrate and DJ Rocca released on thier own Mule Satellite records.

www.t-g-u.com/