Here's a clip of the utterly beautiful & profound raga LALIT, immersed & drenched completely in bhakti ras, played at one of my early morning live concerts. I have played a traditional gat (composition) set to teen taal of 16 beats. This performance went on for nearly two hours, as this raga offers tremendous melodic & emotive possibilities for improvisations, covering a breathtaking spectrum of dynamics - from slow, majestic alap to the drut & fast tempo rendition with highly complex ideation & phrasing. Apt tabla accompaniment is provided by Uday Deshpande, a student of the late Ustad Allarakha Saheb. I remember this to be a particularly emotionally fulfilling performance.

Tags: BAMBOO FLUTE BANSURI HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA WOODWIND MEDITATION YOGA TRANQUILITY KRISHNA KRSNA HEALING REIKI BHAKTI

Continuation of the concert..... I wish the audio quality was better.

Tags: BAMBOO FLUTE BANSURI HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA WOODWIND MEDITATION YOGA TRANQUILITY KRISHNA KRSNA VACHASPATI

This is a clip of one of my favourite ragas from Carnatic Classical Music - RAGA VACHASPATI. Of late, this wonderful & evergreen melody has been adapted & played by several Hindustani instrumentalists in a sincere effort to bridge the musical divide of the two equally great musical systems. The very apt & able tabla accompaniment is by Uday Deshpande, a student of the late Ustad Allarakha Saheb.

Tags: BAMBOO FLUTE BANSURI HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA WOODWIND MEDITATION YOGA TRANQUILITY KRISHNA KRSNA HEALING REIKI VACHASPATI

This is a clip of one of my all time favourite ragas, a creation of my GURUJI created several decades ago. I can't thank him enough for giving this melodic masterpiece to the world...it has all the hues of a beautiful,complex yet spiritually uplifting melody with a heart rending emotive reach. The raga is full of pathos & bhakti ras, transporting the listener to a state of perpetual divine bliss.

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Another excerpt of a very striking & profound raga PURIYA KALYAN played at one of my early days live concerts. I have played a gat (composition) set to rupak taal of 7 beats. The able tabla accompaniment is by Uday Deshpande, a student of the late Ustad Allarakha Saheb. The highly complex ideation & impromptu precise phrasing within the tight rhymthmic framework, are noteworthy. The audio quality isn't very good, but I guess it is good enough to be shared for the content.

Tags: BAMBOO FLUTE HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA MEDITATION YOGA TRANQUILITY BANSURI RAGA PURIYA KALYAN PRAYER

This is an excerpt of a bamboo flute and santoor duet performed by me (bamboo flute) & ace santoor player Dhananjay Daithankar, at a live concert. What is heard here is the "jhala" in the "drut" or fast tempo, in a 16 beats cycle of teen taal. Charukeshi is a very charming Carnatic melody capable of evoking highly spiritual as well as romantic mood elements in its rendition.

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Here's a "madhya laya gat" (medium tempo composition), a traditional piece in the evergreen Raga YAMAN. This melody is not only extremely popular with vocalists and instrumentalists alike, but, like Raga Pahadi, has also been used extensively in film music by the composers during '40s-'70s. The magic of this melody just never ceases!It is truly a raga of a thousand interpretations, and an accomplished musician can sing or play it in as many different ways....

Tags: BAMBOO FLUTE BANSURI HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA YAMAN EMAN KRISHNA KRSNA REIKI SPIRITUAL HEALING MEDITATION

One of the sweetest melodies in Indian classical music, very popular with vocalists & instrumentalists alike. It is also known as Mohanam in Carnatic Music. I regret the quality of the video. The concert was played about 20 years ago & sadly, the condition of the VHS tape source available for digital conversion was pathetic. Please overlook it and just listen to the musical content. The tabla accompaniment is by the ace tabla player Anuradha Pal.

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Continuation of the jugalbandhi concert...

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Continuation of the concert....

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A jugalbandhi concert with the ace santoor artiste Dhananjay Daithankar.This is an excerpt of the alaap of RAGA KALAVATI - a melodious evening raga.

Tags: BAMBOO FLUTE HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA BANSURI SANTOOR SHIVKUMAR SHARMA MEDITATION PEACE HARMONY REIKI SPIRITUAL KALAVATI

This is a traditional "kirtan" - a devotional song from the state of Bengal.

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Continuation of the jugalbandhi concert. The gradual unfolding of the "alaap" of Raga Madhuvanti, note by note, casts a magical spell on the listeners...

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Continuation of the jugalbandhi concert. Raga Madhuvanti is a melody that suits both the bansuri and the santoor. Dhananjay Daithankar plays the santoor in this rendition. The beautiful blending of the instruments creates an entralling effect.

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Here's an excerpt of one of my concerts with the santoor (played by Dhananjay Daithankar). The repertoire chosen is Raga Madhuvanti - a late afternoon / an early evening melody. The mood build up and the effect is mesmerising...

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Continuation of the "Diwali Dawn" concert... Raga Lalit is played here in "jor" movement. Please listen to the "badhat" or the note progression. The badhat, to a large extent, is instrumental in immersing the listener deep into the raga mood, as it "leads" the listener through a note by note aural experience...

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Raga Lalit. One of the most soul stirring and divine ragas in Indian music! One just can't seem to have enough of playing it, or listening to it. This is an excerpt of an early morning concert of mine, played at 6:00 am, at the break of dawn, during Diwali - The Festival of Lights, when music lovers come freshly bathed,in their best silk clothes, in the morning to listen to divine music played by masters. The "Diwali Dawn" concerts have come to assume great significance and sanctity of late. One has to personally experience it...listening to music during this occasion is like taking a dip in the holy ganges, when you feel completely cleansed of all sins and pain and sorrow, face to face with DIVINITY! Listen to the purity and depth of this early morning raga. It virtually breathes new life in to your existence!

Tags: BANSURI BAMBOO FLUTE HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA KRISHNA LALIT MEDITATION SPIRITUAL HEALING KRSNA REIKI

An excerpt from a very catchy, romantic and evergreen composition from the annals of Indian folk music. This is from my live concert played about a decade ago. It is based on Pahadi and exudes with rustic romance and sensuous joy. It brings out very lucidly vivid imagery of rain drenched lovers flirting vivaciously amidst verdant meadows with grazing cattle, rolling hills and lush, green valleys...

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An extremely beautiful evening raga that haunts you deeply with its eternal beauty! Also known by the name ANANDI KALYAN, it is quite a herculean and daunting task to master and play this raga on the flute, due to its utterly "vakra chalan" and constraining "pakad". Hence, you will rarely find this melody being played on the flute in a full fledged presentation. In all my life, I haven't heard a single flute maestro play and improvise this raga in a full fledged concert presentation. I have often wondered, and rather sadly, as to why such a beautiful melody has been neglected so grossly by the past and living masters of the flute! Along with other captivating ragas like RAGA KEDAR, RAGA KAMOD, RAGA BHOOP KALYAN - and several other eternal melodies of the Kalyan "thaat", this raga, too, has also been sadly, relegated into near oblivion, perhaps inadvertently, by the classical flautist, today. So, here is a brief clip of this raga played at one of my live concerts, during Shri Krishna Janmashtami Celebrations, held at ISKCON, which witnessed over 25,000 devotees thronging for Lord Shri Krishna's darshan, as I played by the sanctum sanctorum in the wee hours of the night. In a large part of the presentation, I have attempted to bring out the sheer romanticism of the Radha - Krishna flirtatious interplay.

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This is the concluding section of the three tier raga presentation - the "drut gat" (fast tempo composition),in teen taal of 16 beats rhythmic cycle. As you would observe, the composition is beautifully & precisely structured in such a manner as to give it a "bang" impact on the "sam". We play many such interesting & complex compositions taking off from the 1st beat, 3rd beat, 11th beat, 13th beat, 15th beat etc., to hit the "sam". Uday Deshpande on the tabla and Shankar Laxmanan on the ghatam add a lot of verve and colour while accompanying us, interspersing the concert presentation with many an interesting call-and-response pieces, kayadas and morvey, taking the music to a different level of experience and joy.

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