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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.

This CD by Kala Ramnath and Purbayan Chatterjee presents a recording made in 2003. Two of the most promising young musicians of today, they play a rare jugalbandhi of Violin and Sitar. Tabla accompanist, Subhankar Banerjee, is the disciple of Swapan Shiva belonging to Farukhabad Tabla Gharana.

The CD starts with an alaap in Raag Kedar, an ancient night raaga, usually the domain of vocalists. Kala and Purbayan take turns exploring the complex raga structure, almost independant of each other. The second track is a composition by Kala Ramnath set to Vilambit JhapTaal. In this Kala Ramnath takes the lead and Purbayan responds well, though it seems he prefers a faster tempo. Understated tabla accompaniment of Subhankar Banerjee melts right into the composition. The next track is a traditional composition is TeenTaal. As to be expected with Kedar, violin fares better here too.

The second raaga, Bageshri, presented in this CD is a romantic raaga of the late night. After a shortish alaap, Kala and Purbayan play a tarana. Kala plays several passages which are sure to be "crowd pleasers", which don't sound half as interesting on Sitar imitation by Purbayan. Not sure whether one would classify those passages as tarana, probably more like showcasing the technical wizardry.

Overall this is a good buy of a rare Violin Sitar jugalbandhi. 3.5 stars for the music and 4.0 stars for the recording.

CD Information

Title	Nirman
Label	Sense World Music
Artists	Sitar : Purbayan Chatterjee
	Violin : Kala Ramnath
	Tabla : Subhankar Banerjee
Catalog #	039
Year	Released 2004
Made In	UK
SPARS	N.A.

Tracks

Nu.	Title	Time	Music
1	Alaap - Raag Kedar	12:35
2	Composition - Raag Kedar - Vilambit Jhaptaal	19:54
3	Composition - Raag Kedar - Madhyalay Teentaal	14:25
4	Tarana - Raag Bageshri	14:25

Liner Notes

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