Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Nikhil Banerjee: Raga Hemant (1969)


Album: Ragas For Meditation
Label: Capitol Records -- ST 10518
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Stereo, LP
Released: 1969

In an interview (printed in the booklet for The Hundred-Minute Raga) Nikhil said he had been influenced by Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Amir Khan, and to a lesser extent by Omkarnath Thakur, Faiyaz Khan, Kesarbai Kerkar, and Roshanara Begum. For Banerjee, music-making was a spiritual rather than a worldly path:

"Indian music is based on spiritualism; that is the first word, you must keep it in your mind. Many people misunderstand and think it's got something to do with religion—no, absolutely no! Nothing to do with religion, but spiritualism—Indian music was practiced and learned to know the Supreme Truth. Mirabai, Thyagaraja from the South, Haridas Swami, Baiju—all these great composers and musicians were wandering saints; they never came into society, nor performed in society."

By South Utsire

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