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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 Pt. Shivkumar Sharma presents the live recording of a concert held as part of Saptak Music Festival, 2003. One of the most prominent musicians of today, Pt. Sivkumar Sharma, is synonymous with the instrument he pioneered, Santoor. His many innovations and determination brought a folk instrument to be accepted on the classical stage. Shafat Ahmed Khan is one of the most respected Tabla players of our time representing the Delhi Tabla Gharana.

The cd features Kirvani, a Carnatic raaga adopted by North Indian musicians. It is a sampoorna raga with the scale S R g m P d N, where m denotes shudha madhyama, g & d are komal. Normally a Santoor concert features just one Raaga, since to play a different raaga dozens of strings would have to be retuned. The first track is the slow alaap, moving from a slow paced exposition to a fast rhythmic jor and jhalla in the second track. This part evokes a sense of solitude and well suited to the limited capabilities of santoor when it comes to smooth transition between notes that more complex raagas demand.

The third track continues Kirvani with a composition set to Vilambith teentaal. Shafat Ahmed Khan's tabla play is skillful - soft and warm at times, sharp and precise at others. It is also well captured by the recording engineer. Recording the low frequencies of the duggi (or the bayan) is at best a difficult task and in live recordings it is even more so. Also, santoor goes from fairly loud volumes to very low volume levels when trying to create sense of smooth glide between notes. Improvisations by Shafat Ahmed Khan are quite nice and so are Pt Sharma's. Kirvani continues on the next track with a medium tempo Gat. In this both artists get more ambitious with their improvisations.

The last track features a gat in fast teen taal. Inter play between Pt Sharma and Shafat Ahmed Khan are entertaining. It is interesting to see how tabla play has changed in the past few decades, from a pure rhythm maintenance to a higher level of adding complexity and beuty to the concert, like the southern Carnatic counterpart Mridangam has done for quite a while. Here Shafat Ahmed Khan gets long periods to improvise and definitely also matches the technical brilliance of Shivji. Only sour notes are when Pt Sharma attempts to play a few chords. Not sure what part of Kirvani raag that would be. The concert ends with a good flourish and an interesting tihai.

In the end, the CD by the veteral maestro does not break new ground, but a worthwhile addition if you are a Shivji fan or you don't have his CDs. Overall 4.0 stars for the music and 4.0 stars for the recording. Recommended.

CD Information

Tracks

Nu.	Title	Time	Music	Sample
1	Kirvani - Alaap	10:07
2	Kirvani - Jhor, Jhalla	14:19
3	Kirvani - Gat in Vilabit TeenTaal	20:40
4	Kirvani - Gat in Madhya TeenTaal	8:18
5	Kirvani - Gat in Dhruth TeenTaal	16:32

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.