Winter World Tour & India

I have just returned from a tour around the world performing Indian classical music in Nepal, India, Czech & Germany. The entire trip was a beautiful experience culminating a year of touring starting last spring which included three trips up and down the west coast and Mexico.

I would say the highlight of the journey was Varanasi, where I played 4 concerts in one week including a beautiful temple concert just above the ganga and a program at Benares Hindu University (the largest residential University in Asia) for the music students and renown faculty of the performing arts department.

After 5 trips to India, I am so thankful to God to be able to spend time in Varanasi, performing, having fellowship with the great diversity of music lovers and spiritual seekers from all over the world and yes... of course walking, boating and bathing in the ganga! Here's a shot from a boat of temples on the ghats of the ganges in the sacred city of Varanasi last month.

This is a shot from the River Ashram there playing with a great young tabla player, Hari Om.



This shot is on a house boat the morning I left went after a sunrise sitar concert on the Ganga! See the complete Newsletter here on my website with more pics and concert video as well.

Swapanda & Paul from spring birthday concert for Raviji

This is a live recording of Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri & Paul Livingstone performing this past April. This is a live recording of Raga Malaya Marutam, a raga of Carnatic (South Indian origin), that Panditji (Ravi Shankar) popularized in his style.

We closed the birthday concert in April on guruji's 90th with the great honor of playing my first entire concert with Swapanda.

Tilak Shyam ~ alaap

Alaap introduction for our latest release 'Tilak Shyam' a raga created by Ravi Shankar in 1948, performed by 4 disciples of Raviji.



Paul Livingstone ~ sitar
Pedro Eustache ~ bansuri
Partho Sarothy ~ sarod
Barry Phillps ~ cello

Tilak Shyam ~ drut gat

The Arohi Ensemble on this track features 6 virtuoso musicians, including leading artists from India, the US & Venezuela.



Paul Livingstone ~ sitar
Pedro Eustache ~ bansuri
Partho Sarothy ~ sarod
Barry Phillips ~ cello
Abhijit Banerjee ~ tabla
Somnath Roy ~ ghatum

Arohi page online

Check out the Ravi Tribute page!

Blessing

For Shplang Ensemble students!!!

Listen of the recording of Blessing to learn & practice along everyone. You can see the lyrics here in the South Indian language of Tamil! This is Geetha Bennett singing, who's playing a veena concert for Sangeet on Sat 16th!

Remember Sunday class is at 1:30 this week!
We'll see the Friday class at 6:30 please be on time everyone frmo here on out & don't forget to tell family and friends the concert is on Sunday, June 27th, 3pm!
- paulZ

Sarve Shyam

recorded by Pt.Ravi Shankar

Yale Lecture introduction

Intro to music lecture at Yale University this past October, talking a bit about my background and concepts of Indian Raga Music. This next post is musical!

Alaap in Shudh Sarang - Yale Music Lecture

This is part of a lecture performance given in Professor Sarah Weiss world music class this fall at Yale. Music is interspersed with commentary on the development of raga in the 3 movements of alaap, jor, jhala.

A Way of Truth

The loss of self consciousness enables us to come to full consciousness. The simple tool is we must stop thinking about ourselves. when we say the mantra with an undivded heart then we are on our way. - John Main

Lahn Al Mughtarebin (Immigrant Song)

Wael Kakish & friends this Friday 9/25 night at Throop Church, 300 S Los Robles in Pasadena (corner of Del Mar) in Sangeet Series Concert.

This improvisation on oud (Arabic fretless lute) & derbekki (Arabic goblet drum) is featured on the Salaam Suite cd, this track features Wael & Faisal Zedan on percussion.

Not U Not I (for SHPLANG Ensemble)

Here's a raga rock tune we going to jam shplangers! Check it out...

My Child (for SHPLANG Ensemble)

Listen and practice along... this tune 'My Child' is from my 'Salaam Suite' cd. It is played in a Irish folk feel but based on a simple South Indian raga scale, called Shugamugapriya (sat that 10 times!).

Sa Ga Ma Pa Dha Sa
1 3 4 5 6 1

Indian music Paul's story: LA Times online

This music video by Irfan Khan just went up on LA Times.com, it gives a short journey about my path in Indian and creative world music. This 2 minute piece touches on cross cultural work, teaching, and music as a transcendent force.

new music ~ raga meditations & live concert downloads

Check out these new tracks available. Click on titles for previews. The alaap tracks are solo raga meditations on sitar. Dev Ghandar is a rare raga I learned from my guruji, sarod maestro Pt. Rajeev Taranath & Nat Bhairav is a popular morning raga in a devotional mood. The Vatchaspati (a raga of South Indian origin) tracks are from my live cd, and feature tabla accompaniment by Abhijit Banerjee.

Peloraga is 3 moevment ragajazz piece inspired by the counterpoint of gamelan and western chamber music, this track from the forthcoming Arohi record and features myself on sitar, Pedro Eustache on bansuri & flute, Peter Jacobson on cello, Abhijit Banerjee on tabla and Dave Lewis on drums. Enjoy!

Parameshwari radio concert/interview

Live performance & interview by John Schneider at KPFK's for the Global Village show, Sep 18th, '08.

This performance and discussion live on air features (left to right) Shashanka Bakshi on tabla, Partho Sarodi on sarod myself on sitar.

This 36min program is mostly a live performance of Pt. Ravi Shankar's devotional morning raga known as Parameshwari.

Between movements of the raga we discuss the aspects of alaap, jor & gats played in rupak tala (7 beats) & teental (16 beats). Parameshwari is a six note raga omitting the fifth note, keeping the drone on the tonic & fourth notes.

Sa (C) Re (Db) Ga (Eb) Ma (F) Dha (A) Ni (Bb)

Shashanka, Partho & John in KPFK's historic Studio A.
Photos by Jaeger Smith.

Maru Bihag ektal

Some music from our California & Mexico tour. This 4 minute excerpt of an evening raga known as Maru Bihag from Grass Valley Concert features improvisation on a theme in ektal (12beats).

India/US Jugalbandi

INDIA/US Jugalbandi Ensemble at Grass Valley Center for the Arts

Abhijit Banerjee, Partho Sarodi & Paul Livingstone (photos by James Rodney)

Partho Sarathy in Los Angeles, September concerts

Listen to this excerpt of Partho's melodious sarod playing in a beauitful devotional raga created by our guruji Pandit Ravi Shankar. This morning raga is known as Bhawani Bhairav.

Partho Sarathy is one of the finest classical musicians from India and a disciple of the legendary Pt. Ravi Shankar. His music embodies the true heritage of Hindustaniraga music. His virtuosity on the sarod makes his exploration of ragas an exercise in harmony, tranquility and his serious meditative approach makes his music literally soar to unscaled height of fulfillment. Partho is based in Calcutta, the cultural mecca of India and has been performing for the last 30 years in India and all over the world.



Parthoda joins us performing a number of concerts in Los Angeles around California and Mexico this fall with the India/US Jugalbandi Ensemble. The first program is a house concert on Friday, Sep 5th in Altadena. Accompanied by senior tabla artist Shashanka Bakshi the 1st half will be sarod solo to be followed by sitar/sarod jugalbandi/duet. (RSVP by email: sriyantrama@yahoo.com)

On September 20th the trio will be performing as a trio with myself on sitar and virtuoso tabla player Abhijit Banerjee for the World Festival of Sacred Music at USC and September 21st at Golden West College for the International Day of Peace.


Following these events the trio will be embarking on a fall tour of California and Mexico. For full tour dates, bios, audio & booking info see our EPK (electronic press kit)

Paul & Abhijit, Sangeet House Concert

Here's a video excerpt from our June 1st Sangeet house concert at Kent's beautiful home in San Gabriel, California. This is a drut gat (fast composition) and improvisation in a lesser heard raga in North Indian music... Raga Vatchaspati, originates from the Karnatic/South Indian classical music. The preceding jhaptal (10 beats) will be posted on YouTube shortly.

The middle section is interesting in the spontaneous use of chords on the sitar, with a unique reflective contemporary accompaniment by Abhijit.

I will release cd quality audio from this concert soon,
including Ragas Marwa & Anandi Kalyan.

Kedia Brothers concert, Friday May 16th

Listen to this Pilu excerpt of two of the leading young instrumental artists from India. Specialists in jugalbandi (ensemble style), sitarist Mormukut and sarod player Monoj are the sons of tabla legend Sambhu Dayal Kedia who groomed them in classical Indian music since their childhood. I spent some wonderful time with them in India at their hometown of Giridh, Jharkand getting to know them their amazing father and their music.

The Kedia brothers have performed all over India to great accolades proving their merit as creative, classical artists of the highest caliber. Their first concert in the US promises to be an enthralling evening of ragas, brilliant rhythms and exciting improvisation.

This on Friday 's program opens the Sangeet Spring Concert Series Hathaway Family Resource Center at: 840 North Avenue 66, Los Angeles, CA 90042.

Friday, May 16th at 8pm tickets at the door $20/15 students - free parking available on lot.

Sarangi Guitar Duet

I recorded this duet with sarangi player Debahish Haldar in Calcutta this February. It is a somewhat contemporary take on the traditional evening Raga Jog. This is an excerpt from a 45 minute alaap meditation we recorded in one take. Digit.


Deashish Haldar, is a brilliant young sarangi player from Calcutta. We met playing together with Abhijit Banerjee's Tarang Ensemble. Enjoy, we'll have the whole piece available for sale shortly.

Sarang

This is an excerpt from a guitar improvisation played on the Godin freltess guitar. This thing plays like butter! I tracked one take and then had a musical conversation on another take with the first one. The great thing about this guitar is I can manage the subtle glissando & ornaments of Indian music as well as bring in a jazz sensibility to my phrases creating a composite phraseology.

photo by Jay Matsueda

The 6 string guitar on the right is what you're hearing (also played on Kafi Bund recording on the previous post below). The other guitar I playing in this shot is the Godin Glissintar (11 string fretless). I post some jams with this soon too.

This contemporary improvisation is based loosely on an simple North Indian afternoon raga which is basically a 5 note raga with an alternating 7th note. I am calling this Sarang but there is some debate between gharanas (schools of Indian music) for the name of this particular raga. Sarang is actually a family of afternoon ragas comprising a number of related ragas from which this is one of them. My guruji (Pt. Ravi Shankar) refers to this as Madhumat Sarang.

The arohi (ascent) & avarohi (descent) of this raga is.

Sa Re Ma Pa Ni Sa ~ Sa Ni Pa Ma Re Sa
1 2 4 5 7 1 1 b7 5 4 2 1

Flyin'

WARNING, this is ragarock music, listen at your own risk! This is not my mellow classical stuff ya'll. This grooves though, with solkattu (vocal percussion) interspersed. The initial rhythmic theme is based on a cycle of 16 divided 2 3 4 3 4.

Ta ka, Ta ki Ta, Ta ka di mi, Ta ki Ta, Ta ka di mi
(say this while clapping in 4 and you're glangin'!)

This track features: me on a Godin fretless electric guitar (yea the one in that picture to the right), Pete Jacobson on cello, Jonathan Dimond on bass, Abhijit Banerjee on tabla & Dave Lewis on drums... dijit!

Check out the live video of this tune on YouTube from Arohi concert, in Jan '08 at Bonsorte Studio in Santa Monica. We dedicated the piece to the late Dan Morris, who was an incredible creative drummer and friend since our Cal Arts days.

Kafi Bund

Check out this sitar/fretless guitar duet recorded in Calcutta, India in Feb '08.

This ragajazz jam in based loosely around Raga Kafi. When I was in Kolkata last month, there was a government strike (called bund... hence our title) so nobody could drive around the city, fortunately we we within walking distance of Resonance Studio so we went in, composed this piece and laid it down on the spot.

Indrajit Banerjee on sitar & myself on Godin fretless guitar... Enjoy!

Here's a bit of video from the warm up in the studio. The audio above is far superior for listening).



Check out Indrajit's website, a brilliant sitarist now on tour in USA with Gourisankar on tabla, we're looking forward to their spring concert in Los Angeles.

back intact from India

The India tour was a richly rewarding experience I had the opportunity to not only perform 6 concerts and record with some of the great musicians in Calcutta, but also conduct a 10 day world music synthesis course at the Rabindra Bharitya University with tabla wizard Abhijit Banerjee & Kenny Endo, Japanese American Taiko drummer. Each of us presented original compositions in the context of this crossover music workshop. The talented music students performed our pieces at the culminating concert incorporating harmony & counterpoint into a new piece based on Raga Charukeshi. I will post some video of this and other performances shortly and as well some audio excerpts from India.

Here's a link to the press from Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta.