Personnel: Ravi Shankar (sitar); Alla Rakha (tabla).
Producer: Richard Bock.
Reissue producer: Robert LaPorta.
Recorded in London, England. Includes liner notes by Ravi Shankar.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is part of Angel's Ravi Shankar Collection series.
Aside from ragas, one of the defining features of classical Indian music--both the Hindustani, or North Indian, and the Carnatic, or South Indian styles--is the tala, or rhythmic cycle. The tala may be any number of beats--most often between six and 16--that are then broken down further, according to the particular composition.
On the 1964 recording RAGAS AND TALAS, Ravi Shankar joins with renowned tabla player Alla Rakha, father of Zakir Hussain, in exploring several selections. A morning raga, "Raga Jogiya" consists of three movements: the initial alap solo by Shankar, the vilambit gat, or slow duet, followed by a frenzied closure performed in teental, or 16 beats. "Dhun" is a moving composition, drawing upon folk styles and which opens with a short solo by Shankar. The seven-beat "Rupak Tal" finds Alla Rakha improvising and alternately vocalizing his rapid handwork as Shankar plucks out a simple, repetitive phrase.
