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News and Events
2008 07 10
As a followup to the Shahid Parvez concert recording from yesterday, here he is again performing Bhariavi from a concert in Karachi.
2008 07 10
Feature Concert Video: Shahid Parvez in Delhi
Thanks to the tireless Trippy Monkey for this concert recording of Shahid Parvez performing Delhi in 2007. He performs raag Jhinjhoti with the fanstastic Kumar Bose on tabla
2008 07 09
In a further addition to our series on street musicians comes Barnakustica, a world music group that performs on the streets of Barcelona.
The following text is information about the band from Barnakustica’s YouTube page:
Busking in Barcelona by Corte Ingles with friends.. World rhythms + creative voice. This piece was completely improvised. Indian, African, Latin elements with a modern feel.
the players this day are:
Paolo (italy) - sitar
Nacho (chile) - Hang
Cumie (usa) - voice
Jean (senegal) - voice
Mauro (chile) - overtones, flute
Paul (england) - Hang
Ubjk, the amazing sax player, could not be with us this day.
http://www.myspace.com/barnakustica
http://www.myspace.com/cumieart
2008 07 07
A haunting video from Tomo who plays electric sitar on the streets of Tokyo.
You can see more videos by Tomo at his YouTube page.
2008 07 05
Prem Neraj at St Andrews Church
Thanks to Neraj Prem, a student of Shujaat Khan’s, for demonstrating what an incredibly versatile instrument the sitar is, and for breaking new ground with this unique collaborative effort.
Rock on, Sajan and Neraj!
2008 07 02
The following video clip was recently unearthed on YouTube. It’s a fusion group called Taxshilla, at a concert that they performed in what seems to be Bombay. It’s a lovely sound, and the musicians are excellent, but there’s no information anywhere on the net about this group, except that the tabla player appears to be Sandip Battacharya. If anyone knows anything more about this group, please let us know.
Update: Here’s quite a bit more information about the group from the players themselves.
2008 07 01
Feature Concert Video: Arohi Ensemble - live in Mexico City
The Arohi Ensemble is an Indian classical inspired fusion group featuring sitarist Paul Livingstone. This video comprises two extensive excerpts from a concert they performed in Mexico City in 2007.
The following text is from Paul Livingston’s website:
The Arohi Ensemble plays creative world music through original compositions and improvisation based on the musical traditions and concepts of India, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Jazz.
Members of Arohi play traditional and contemporary innovative instruments designed to stretch the boundaries of new world music.
Arohi means “ascending melody”.
The Arohi Ensemble is Paul Z. Livingstone playing sitar, fretless 9 string and nylon string guitars, Pedro Eustache playing bansuri, flutes and world winds, Anand Bennett playing electric mandacello and contrabass, and Leonice Shinemann playing African drum set, Indian and world percussion.
Recent guest artists with the ensemble include Poovalur Srinivasan (Sriji) playing mridangam and kanjeera, and Leticia Meza on pandiero.
2008 06 29
Zakir Hussain, L Shankar and Peshkar
To continue the tabla theme, here’s another archival video from Trippy Monkey’s collection of Zakir Hussain and L Shankar performing in a post-Shakti collaboration called “Peshkar.”
2008 06 29
Oh dear… it was inevitable! Now you can play the Love Guru’s sitar yourself. Click the link below to play the first know interactive Sitar Hero style game:
It’s really hard, but (try to) have fun!
2008 06 28
Another historically important video from the archives of Trippy Monkey - the first appearance of Alla Rakha performing with his sons on British Television.
Now Playing:
Click to launch Sitar.co.za's continuously updated video channel. An ever-expanding collection of the best new, archival and interesting sitar and Indian classical music related videos on the internet. Click on any video for more information or to start a discussion.
Events
- 2008 07 16 :: Rex van der Spuy (sitar) and Anita Katakkar (tabla): An evening of contemporay Indian classical music featuring Rex van der Spuy on sitar and Anita Katakkar on tabla. More...
- 2008 04 25.26 :: Terra do Sangeet, Land of Rhythm: The Toronto Tabla Ensemble will be collaborating with Aline Morales and Maracatu Nunca Antes as well as the infinitely talented Ian de Souza (bass). More...
- 2008 03 29 :: Anwar Khurshid and Ustad Tari Khan: The Sitar School of Toronto is presenting a Sitar concert by Toronto's own sitarist, Anwar Khurshid. The audience will also be privileged by the accompaniment of world class Tabla player Ustad Tari Khan. More...
View all Events. Please send an email to events@sitar.co.za to have your event listed.
Music
- Ravi Shankar Interview: Audio documentary with Ravi Shankar speaking to the BBC's Anita Bhalla.
- A Chairy Tale: A rarely seen Norman McLaren animated film featuring a full soundtrack by Ravi Shankar and Sri Chatur Lal (tabla.)
- Trippy Monkey’s Video Archive: The best archive of sitar and Indian classical music related videos on the internet. Full concerts, documentaries, and rare television broadcasts. Trippy also maintains an Esnips archive of rare recordings.
View the complete Music Archive...
Articles
- Sitar Making In India: Scott Hackleman's detailed and highly readable account of the year he spent in Delhi learning the art of sitar making in Katar Chand's shop.
- Annapurna Devi: Mohan D. Nadkarni accounts his meetings with this enigmatic artist and comments on her legacy.
- Quality Sitar Construction: An informative article on sitar construction methodologies and what you should look for in a good quality instrument.
Learning Resources
- Tabla Lessons: A half hour of basic tabla lesson demonstrations, recorded in Bangalore, June 2003
- Electronic Tanpura Samples: Tampura samples in all keys (C# for sitar)
- Electronic Tabla Samples: A collection of electronic tabla samples, of about 10 minutes each, in a variety of tempos and taals.
View all Learning Resources...
Useful Links
- David and Chandra’s Sitar Forum: The epicenter of the sitar universe and the best place to find accurate, insightful and up-to-date information on all things sitar. This is the place to ask questions about sitar music, learning the sitar, or where to find a teacher. Become a member, spend some time reading the threads, and ask a question! We're there to help.
- Ali Akbar College of Music: A great place for strings, sitars, music, books and the all-important fibreglass cases.
- Tabla.co.za: Information on learning the tabla and an excellent resource for South African Indian musicians. Local events listings and information on local musicians.
- The Buckingham Music Sitar Tutorial: Excellent basic information about learning, maintaining and playing the sitar.
- Sitarplayer.net: Canadian site on learning to play the sitar. Well written with great resources, advice and practical information. This is the place to visit for the "Sargam" font.
- Patrick Moutal’s Indian Music Page: A wonderfully sprawling French site packed with rare recordings, photos, videos and all sorts of fascinating information.
- South Asian Women’s Forum Music Page: A huge collection of detailed articles (with thousands of audio clips) on aspects of Indian classical music. A very good place to visit if you are seeking info on a raga that you are just warming up to.
- The Wikipedia Sitar Entry: Although it ranks high in Google's search ratings... be careful! A lot of the information here is great, but an equal amount is not completely comprehensive, open to debate and often confusing. There's a been a lot of work done on this entry over the last year but it's very far from being an adequate, complete or accurate source of information. Come on, sitar community, we need to make this entry better! Click "edit" and contribute something!
- Radel Tabla and Tanpura Machines: The essential accessory for any sitar player is a tabla machine. Radel's models are superbly built and their customer service is exceptional. They ship worldwide.
- Swar Systems Indian Music Software: Sitar.co.za hasn't demo'd this software yet, but it gets regular complimentary reviews. If you've had a good (or bad) experience using it, let us know! Available for Windows and Macintosh.
- Audacity: Open-source audio recording software for Windows and Macintosh.
- Riyaz Studio: Tabla/Tanpura accompaniment software ideal for sitar practise. Inexpensive and easy to use. If you can't afford or obtain a tabla machine easily, this is an excellent choice.
- Amelia Maciszewski’s sitar videos: Superb instructional videos on basic sitar practise and theory by Amelia Maciszewski. Great if you're just getting into the intstrument and don't have a teacher.
- Deepak Raja’s world of Hindustani Music: A treasure trove of articles on Indian classical music, including rare interviews with many instumentalists.
- The Toronto Gharana: The Toronto Gharana: A website devoted to Indian classical music in Toronto.
- That Which Colors the Mind: 12 minute sample of Steven Baigel's wonderful documentary on sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. (from Stevenbaigel.com)
- Andy’s Music Indian Instruments Page: Rare, vintage and historic instruments. If you're looking for the best, and have the cash to spend, this is a great place to start.
- Trippy Monkey’s Video Archive: The best archive of rare sitar and Indian classical music related videos on the internet. Trippy also maintains an Esnips archive of rare recordings.
- The Sitar Factory: Lots on information on sitar maintenance and repair, as well as interesting info on electric and experimental sitars.
Do you have any favourite sitar or Indian classical music links? Email them to us!