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The Rain
Ghazal

PERSIAN & INDIAN IMPROVISATIONS
"Fire," "Dawn," and "Eternity,"


"deeply meditative or dazzlingly virtuosi - a musical bridge between Iran and India"
"magical moments with mesmerizing and haunting music."


"Superb" -- The New York Times

"Rapturous" -- The Washington Post

"Soulful and haunting. Reminds me of the deepest roots of jazz and blues Universal." -- John Scofield







Ghazal creates music that can be deeply meditative or dazzlingly virtuosi - a musical bridge between Iran and India, two of the world's most expressive and distinctive traditions . The connections between the classical music of India and Iran stretch back thousands of years to the old Silk trade route, where ideas of modal scales, rhythmic cycles and traditional melodic contours were exchanged. Three virtuoso musicians from Iran and India create spellbinding improvisations that link their two classical styles. Ghazal Ensemble, a name that refers to poetry in Persian and a sung poetry form in North India, features Kayhan Kalhor, an Iranian master of the Kamancheh (spiked fiddle); Indian Ustad Sitar player, Shujaat Husain Khan, one of the great North Indian classical musicians of his generation; and Swapan Chaudhuri, the great master of Indian tabla (percussion) or Sandeep Das, one of the bright young stars of Indian percussion.

For the past five centuries, Persian music and North Indian music have grown along separate but parallel paths, resulting in similarities of scales, tunings, rhythms and improvisational forms between the two great traditions. Despite the large differences between the Persian classical music system (dastgah) and the Indian system (raga), there are several scales in both where the intervals overlap. Ghazal creates a musical bridge between these two ancient styles, one based less on academic research and more on the spirit of making music in the moment, and from the heart. Their gorgeous, remarkably intuitive, and increasingly elaborate improvisations highlight the music's common ground. The artists exploit their similarities to find a breathtaking new voice and convey a rich spirituality that requires no literal translation.


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THE ARTISTS

Kayhan Kalhor is one the most important Iranian musicians of his generation. He is an internationally respected virtuoso of the kamancheh and setar as well as a composer. He bows the kamancheh, or Iranian spiked fiddle, while holding it vertically between his knees. The instrument has a round, almost flutelike tonality, capable of expressing a haunting range of nuances of phrasing, accent and timbre. Kayhan Kalhor began his study of Persian classical music at the age of seven under master Ahmad Mohajer and has since performed around the world, both with Iran's most prestigious artists and as a soloist. Kalhor's search to develop his own improvisational language based on traditional Persian music makes him one of Iran's most exciting musicians.

Shujaat Husain Khan, son and disciple of the master sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan, is one of the great artists of North Indian classical music today. A sitar virtuoso, Shujaat Husain Khan is an expressive player, favoring plucked notes embellished by generous use of vibrato. Khan is also the group's vocalist, and blends his gentle baritone with the melodic lines of the instruments. He started playing sitar at the age of three and began making public performances at the age of six. He belongs to the Imdad Khan gharana (school) of the sitar and is the seventh in an unbroken family line that has produced many musical masters. He has also performed around the world.

Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, the brilliant virtuoso tabla player, is one of India's most popular and widely recorded classical artists. Swapan started learning tabla at the age of five. He bases his style on the intensive training he received from his Guru, Pandit Santosh Krishna Biswas of Calcutta, the eminent exponent of the Lucknow Gharana. In 1981, Maestro Ali Akbar Khan brought him to the United States to teach tabla at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California. He is the Director of Percussion at the College in San Rafael and in Basel, Switzerland. He is also a member of the teaching staff at the California Institue of the Arts in Valencia, California. In addition, Swapan maintains a rigorous touring and recording schedule around the world with India's greatest masters.

Sandeep Das, born in 1970, is one of the most promising young tabla players of his generation. He began playing tabla at the age of 8 and is a disciple of Pandit Kishan Maharaj, the doyen of the Benares Gharana. Sandeep is known for his clarity of "bols", or depth and balancing of sound, difficult layaksaris and mathematical calculations as he is performing. He has accompanied many of the top artists throughout India and abroad and performs regularly on TV and radio in India.





Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
As on their previous releases, this much-admired Persian/Indian crossover duo have created a separate yet spacious universe that is tranquility incarnate. The musicans, who have named themselves after an ancient form of romantic poetry, perform on sitar (a multi-stringed Indian plucked instrument with a tall fretboard attached to a resonating gourd) and kamancheh (a sonorous but gutty-sounding spike fiddle) and voice, accompanied by a tabla virtuoso (a tuned skin drum commonly played in India and Pakistan). They wander hither and yon, seemingly traveling between dimensions of time, thought, and feeling. People who find Indian classical music too demanding for a beginner and/or have no idea what Persian music sounds like need have no fear. These three extended pieces, called "Fire," "Dawn," and "Eternity," may be somewhat rarified but they are also utterly accessible. Performing live before a respectfully rapt audience, Ghazal is at once sensuous, austere, fiery, and spiritual. --Christina Roden

To listen to Sound Samples
www.amazon.com/Rain-Ghaz [...] B00008UAGA


Fire is part of the compilation called The Rain - Ghazal. Top Indian and Persian musicians create magical moments with mesmerizing and haunting music.

Fire : Kayhan Kalhor - Shujaat Husain Khan
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsgYBJUaSss




LA DEMEURE DE L'AMI

“Où est la demeure de l'Ami?”
C'est à l'aurore que retentit la voix du cavalier.
Le ciel s'arrêta à l'instant, un passant offrit
Aux ténèbres du sable,
Un Rameau de lumière qu'il tenait dans ses lèvres,
Puis montrant du doigt un peuplier blanc, il dit:

“Pas loin de cet arbre se trouve une ruelle boisée
Plus verte que le songe de Dieu
Où l'amour est tout aussi bleu que
Le plumage de la sincérité.

Tu iras jusqu'au fond de cette allée
Qui émergera par-delà l'adolescence,
Puis tu tourneras vers la fleur de la solitude.

A deux pas de la fleur, tu t'arrêteras
Au pied de la fontaine d'où jaillissent les mythes de la terre.
Là tu seras transi d'une frayeur transparente,
Dans l'intimité ondulante de cet espace sacré
Tu entendras un certain bruissement:
Tu verras un enfant perché au-dessus d'un pin effilé,
Désireux de ravir la couvée du nid de la lumière
Et tu lui demanderas:
Où est la demeure de l'Ami?”


Sohrab Sepehri


Sohrab Sepehri (October 7, 1928 - April 21, 1980) was a notable modern Persian poet and a painter.
His poetry is full of humanity and concern for human values. He loved nature and refers to it frequently.
His poetry has been translated to many languages including French, English, Spanish, Italian,Russian, Swedish.

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"He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye."Buddha

"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea."Buddha

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."Buddha

"Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence."Buddha

"It is better to travel well than to arrive."Buddha