North Indian Classical

While northern Indian classical music is something of an acquired taste, the joys of approaching it as you would a chant and allowing it to flow around and through you are manifold. For openers, it's worth listening to Ravi Shankar's spoken "An Introduction to Indian Music." Ali Akbar Khan, whose "Raag Khamaj" is featured here, is considered a "National Living Treasure" in India. He was cited by the late violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin as being "the greatest musician in the world." India has also seen many world-renowned maestros who have pioneered new instruments - like shehnai wizard Bismillah Khan, santoor magician Shivkumar Sharma, flute masters Pannalal Ghosh and Hariprasad Chaurasia, guitar guru Brijbhushan Kabra, etc.

Many ragas are prescribed to be performed at specific times of the day, or during certain seasons, such as monsoon season. Some classical artists refuse to perform certain ragas in concert unless the concert takes place during the portion of the day for which the particular raga was prescribed. For example, "Raga Mishra Pilu" is designed to be played between 3 and 6 in the afternoon while "Raga Jhinjhoti" is intended to be performed between 9 and midnight.

The late sitarist Nikhil Banerjee, whose "Raga Ragashree" is heard here, studied with Ali Akbar Khan and played as his accompanist in nearly a thousand concerts. The San Francisco Chronicle once observed that his "technique is a phenomenon, faster than cheetahs, more secure than the dollar." Zakir Hussain, best known in America for his groundbreaking collaboration with Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart on Planet Drum, contributes "Fast Sool Taal" from the stunning Tabla Duet: Unique Tradition - Rare Combination album featuring the eminent accompaniment of Alla Rakha.

This is a playlist of old and new: we feature maestros of past decades, such as Buddhadev DasGupta, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, and Mallikarjun Mansur, as well as new faces, like Anoushka Shankar, Rahul Sharma, Purbabyan Chatterjee, and Shubhendra Rao.

For many of us from the West, Indian classical music is a tough nut to crack; the microtonal changes in its scales are markedly different from what we're used to, the compositions themselves tend to run on the long side for our MTV-weaned ears, and we can't understand a word they're singing. So noted. But the subtle joys of this music are akin to the lotus flower unfolding, revealing its inner beauty with almost infinite protraction. It helps to approach this music as you would a chant, allowing it to wash over and through you, divulging its mysterious splendor at its own pace. If you don't force it (or yourself, for that matter), you'll come to appreciate this luminous and complex spiritual music.