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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 Ustad Rashid Khan presents the live recording of a concert held as part of Saptak Music Festival, 2003. Ustad Rashid Khan is the most prominent young Hindustani vocalist of our time. My first Rashid Khan concert was way back in IIT Delhi when he was still an unknown teenage singer, appearing on the stage before the main artist of the evening Prof T N Krishnan took the stage. Not having heard him lately, I looked forward to listening to this CD. Shafat Yogesh Samsi is one of the well known young tabla players and son of famous vocalist Dinkar Kaikini. Mehmood Dhaulpuri accompanies on the harmonium.

The cd features Malkauns, a popular raaga of ancient origin. It is a pentatonic raaga with the scale S g m d n , where g, n are komal. Ri and Pa are missing. Rashid Khan starts with a characteristic short alaap and sings the bhara khayal Tu Hain Malik Mera. Malkauns being a Shantha / Gambheera rasa pradhana raaga, Rashid Khan presents it in a serious slow manner which is at once soothing and appealing. Tabla accompaniment is excellent so is the harmonium, except it seems to be too busy during silent periods. Towards the end of the khayal he sings extensive Sargams, not something one hears a lot in Hindustani (compared to Carnatic).

In the third track Ustad Rashid Khan continues Malkauns with a khayal in TeenTaal Yaad Aavat Mohe. This helps build the tempo up slowly. The next track in dhruth teen taal is the celebrated Adarang khayal Aaj More Ghar Aaye Balma, a favorite of Ustad Amir Khan, who has deeply influenced many younger singers, including Rashid Khan. The next and the last track features Ghor Langar Manat Nahin in Dhruth EkTaal, a composition sung by Rashid Khan with vigour and fast taans, a fitting finale to the CD.

In the end, the CD by the young maestro is a worthwhile addition if you haven't heard Rashid Khan recently. Overall 4.0 stars for the music and 4.0 stars for the recording. Recommended.

CD Information

Tracks

Nu.	Title	Taal	Time	Rating
1	Malkauns - Alaap		9:46
2	Tu Hain Malik Mera	Vilambit EkTaal	47:41
3	Yaad Aavat Mohe Det Batiya	TeenTaal	6:40
4	Aaj More Ghar Aaye Balma	Drut TeenTaal	4:12
5	Ghor Langar Manat Nahin	Drut EkTaal	5:52

Liner Notes

Good liner notes with profile of the artist and music. The cover art is excellent as is the case with most Sense World Music productions.