Music on the Desert Road - A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya

Music on the Desert Road

- A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya

Angel Records - 35515 - P.1958

Map of the travelled road...

Side A

A1 Turkey - Automobile on mountain Road - Central Anatolian Dance

A2 Turkey - Mevludin Nebevi (Religious chant)

A3 Syria - Rasd (Dervish song)

A4 Syria - Bedouin Song and Dance

A5 Jordan - Bedouin Coffee Grinding

A6 Iraq - Kesame-Meru (Kurdish ballad)

A7 Iran - Baba Karam (Love song)

Side B

B1 Iran - Rhythm of a Train (Drums)

B2 Iran - Humayun (Traditional melody)

B3 Afghanistan - Atan Dance Music

B4 Pakistan - Neemakai (Wedding folk song)

B5 India - Zila from Varanasi (Benares)

B6 India - Temple Bells and drums of a Bengali Kali Temple - Bhajan (Hindu devotional song, sung in Hindi)

Here is another record with some early recordings by Deben Bhattacharya that bears a close resemblance to the previous one I posted. Except this one takes us back again to India. I don't mind, that is where I want to be anyhow! It comes with an eight page full size leaflet to compensate for the totally uninformative black backside of the sleeve!

Some of the photos in it are great!

Tabl player

Nay player

Rababa player

Seems to be the very same picture as on the LP posted right before!

Santor player

Another picture of the young field recorder himself at work.

Cumbus player

Especially impressive do I find the photo of the Bedouin coffee percussionist...

The track of coffee grinding rhythm on the previous record is however more impressive than this one! The the last track with the bhajan also got me captured!

Hope you enjoy both the coffee and the rest of the music!

Music ▼ +

Karukurichi Arunachalam - Chakkaniraja as Welcome Music!

Karukurichi Arunachalam - Chakkaniraja

His Masters Voice - HMV 7 EP 61 - P.1958

Side A

Chakkaniraja pt. 1

Side B

Chakkaniraja pt. 2

Chakkaniraja - Karaharapriya

Thyagaraja Kriti

When there are nice royal paths,

why enter bylanes? O Mind!

read on

I hope everything went well and that my friends have safely landed in Madras. Here is a Nagaswaram piece that should be fitting as a fanfare of welcome and as the Nagaswaram is an auspicious instrument often announcing that the festivities have started, I will let this be the first in a long row of good recordings of Nagaswaram music.

Lets start with one of the two real pillars of Nagaswaram music. The first and by most rasikas agreed to be the greatest of all the recorded players to date would be the larger than life T.J. Rajaratnam Pillai (1902-1956). I will post some of his music later because I tend to even more like the slightly mellow and sometimes pensive romantic tone of his around twenty years younger disciple Karukurichi P. Arunachalam, also he considered part of the very foundation of the tradition!

Karukurichi P. Arunachalam (1921-1964)

in the late fifties.

I was very lucky on one of my visits to His Excellency to bring back home a real rarity from the fifties, as the good friend he is, he kindly lent me this EP pressed in Great Britain in 1958. I hope you will like it and that it can serve as music for many happy landings!

Setup of a typical orchestra, two Nagaswaram players in the middle

and two Thavil players, one on each side.

Nagaswaram & Thavil

Nagaswaram

The nadaswaram (also spelt nadhaswaram, and also called nagaswaram) (Tamil:நாதஸ்வரம் ) is one of the most popular classical instruments of Tamil Nadu and the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instrument. It is a wind instrument similar to the North Indian shehnai but larger, with a hardwood body and a large flaring bell made of wood or metal.

The nadaswaram contains three parts namely, kuzhal, thimiru, and anasu. Traditionally the body of the nadaswaram is made out of a tree called aacha.

It is a double reed instrument with a conical bore which gradually enlarges toward the lower end. It is usually made of a type of ebony. The top portion has a metal staple (called "Mel Anaichu") into which is inserted a small metallic cylinder (called "Kendai") which carries the mouthpiece made of reed.

Besides spare reeds, a small ivory or horn needle is attached to the Nadaswaram. This needle is used to clear the mouthpiece of saliva particles and allows the free passage of air. A metallic bell (called "Keezh anaichu") decorates the bottom.

The Nadaswaram has seven finger-holes. There are five additional holes drilled at the bottom which are used as controllers. The Nadaswaram has a range of two and a half octaves like the flute. The system of fingering is similar to that of the flute. But unlike the flute, where semi and quarter tones are produced by the partial opening and closing of the finger holes, in the Nadaswaram they are produced by adjusting the pressure and strength of the air-flow into the pipe. Hence it is a very exacting instrument. Also, due to its intense volume and strength it is basically an outdoor instrument and much more suited for open spaces than for closed indoor concert situations.

In Tamil Culture the nadaswaram is considered to be very auspicious, and it is the key instrument which is played in almost all Hindu weddings and temples in Tamil Nadu. It is part of the family of instruments known as a Mangala Vadya (lit. mangala means auspicious, vadya means instrument). The instrument is usually played in pairs, and accompanied by a pair of drums called thavil.

Thavil

The thavil is a barrel shaped percussion instrument from South India. It is used in folk music and Carnatic music, often accompanying the nadaswaram. The thavil and the nadaswaram are essential ingredients of traditional festivals and ceremonies in South India. The thavil consists of a cylindrical shell hollowed out of a solid block of wood. Layers of animal skin are stretched across the two sides of the shell using hemp hoops attached to the shell. The right face of the instrument has a larger diameter than the left side. The instrument is hung by a leather strap from the shoulder of the player. The right head is played with the right hand, wrist and fingers. The player usually wears thumb caps on all the fingers of the right hand. The left head is played with a stick made from the wood of the portia tree.

Music ▼ +

Religions of India - rec. Deben Bhattacharya

Religions of India - The Living Traditions

Recordings and sleevenotes by Deben Bhattacharya

Argo - ZFB 55 - P.1971

Side A

A1 Temple Bells and drums 1'43

A2 Vedic Chants - Pandit Durga Prasad 3'13

A3 Raga Asavari - Hori Dhamari-ke-pad - Dhruvadas Maharaj 5'38

A4 Kazhagam 2'53

A5 Mariyamman Padal 2'30

A6 Mira's Bhajan 3'35

Side B

B1 Namo tatsat - Pali prayer - Buddhist 3'42

B2 Tibetan prayer - Buddhist 5'35

B3 Pali prayer - Buddhist 4'35

B4 In praise of Guru Nanak - Sikh 6'36

A1, A6, Recorded 1954, Varanasi (Benares)

A2 Recorded 1968, Amer (Jaipur)

A3 Recorded 1968, Brindavan

A4, A5, Recorded 1962, Dehli

B1, B2 Recorded 1968, Sarnath

B3 Recorded 1954, Calcutta

B4 Recorded 1955, Amritsar

Some more of the earlier field recordings by Deben Bhattacharya that not only are valuable historical documents but also makes good listening. Again some of these recordings are very moving and makes for good time travels. I especially enjoy the Sikhs praising Guru Nanak.

Music ▼ +