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Review

Sense World is a new addition to the growing number of labels dedicated to Indian classical music. Started in 2002 Sense World is based in UK, with a studio in Gujarat. Many of the albums are live concert recordings of the Saptak Music Festival held every year in Ahmedabad, Gujarat every year in winter.

The first CD by Purbayan Chatterjee presents a recording made in 2001. One of the promising musicians of today, Purbayan Chatterjee, is still in his twenties. Tabla accompanist, Kumar Bose, is a disciple of Pt Kishan Maharaj and the most well known star of Benaras tabla gharana of his generation.

The first CD starts with a slow alaap in Raag Jog, an evening raaga, recorded in a studio. Alaap is on the shorter side, but does set the stage for the next track. The second track starts with a slow composition set to Rupak Taal. Purbayan Chatterjee plays sensitively, but at times attempts experimentation playing what sounds like chords. He continues with a Gat in madhya laya TeenTaal, displaying good control and sense of rhythm. This leads to the dhruth teentaal composition on track four. The tempo slowly increases in this track, leading to fast and skillful improvisations at the end.

The second raaga, Jaijaivanti, presented in this CD was recorded live at a concert during the Saptak Music Festival. Jaijaivanti is a complex Audhav-Sampurna night raaga associated with shringara rasa. Purbayan Chatterjee handles the raaga competently, stressing on all the well known phrases of the raaga. The next track continues Jaijaivanti in dhruth teentaal. Here Purbayan Chatterjee is lively and varies between fast and medium tempo throughout the composition.

Kumar Bose's tabla accompaniment is excellent. He plays with sensitiviy where needed and crisp flourish otherwise, confirming that is a very promising artist. His rhythmic variations bring in a lot of applause from the crowds, though a bit too often.

Overall 3.0 stars for the music and 4.0 stars for the recording.

The second CD presents a recording made in 2001. Young tabla player Satyajit Talwalkar joins Purbayan Chatterjee fir this recording. Satyajit Talwalkar is the son of musicians Pt Suresh Talwalkar and Smt Padma Talwalkar.

The recording starts with a long alaap of Raag Bhairav, an ancient early morning melody representing emotions of renunciation and pathos. Purbayan Chatterjee plays the alaap in the right spirit moving slowly from lower registers to the higher. Meditative quality of the raaga is well protrayed. Jod follows the alaap in the same vein. For the most part Purbayan improvises well staying within the traditional presentation of the raag, except a few times trying to alternate between notes of upper and lower registers. The tempo quickens as Jod progresses, giving ample opportunity for Purbayan to show his technical prowess.

The third and fourth tracks on the CD feature Raag Jaunpuri, a morning raaga representing emotions of submission and soulful yearning. Beginning with a short alaap he plays a gat in the somewhat rare Matta Taal. He is well supported by Satyajit Talwalkar on the tabla. The last track features a gat in dhruth teen taal which show cases the technical maturity of both Purbayan Chatterjee and Satyajit Talwalkar.

Overall 4.0 stars for the music and 4.0 stars for the recording.

CD Information

Tracks

Nu.	Title	Time	Music
1	Alaap - Raag Jog	8:59
2	Composition - Jog - Rupak	14:45
3	Composition - Jog - Madhyalaya Teentaal	5:03
4	Composition - Jog - Dhruth Teentaal	7:30
4	Composition - Jaijavanti - Vilambith Teentaal	17:11
4	Composition - Jaijavanti - Dhruth Teentaal	17:29

2.

Title	New Dawn Mind
Label	Sense World Music
Artists	Sitar : Purbayan Chatterjee
	Tabla : Satyajit Talwalkar
Catalog #	025
Year	Released 2003
Made In	UK
SPARS	N.A.

Tracks

Nu.	Title	Time	Music
1	Alaap - Raag Bhairav	19:25
2	Jod - Raag Bhairav	25:06
3	Composition - Jaunpuri - Madhyalaya Mattataal	19:59
4	Composition - Jaunpuri - Dhruth Teentaal	8:51

Liner Notes

Good liner notes with profile of the artists and the music.