Anoushka’s first solo album, Anoushka (Angel Records, 1998) received much critical praise when it was released, and it’s easy to see why.
The opening track, “Bairagi,” sounds like Indian Mettalica in parts and then shifts into a nice groove rhythm, really laid back, yet technically proficient and melodically astonishing.
Anourag (Angel Records), Anoushka Shankar’s second album, came out in summer 2000. “Hamsadhwani Tabla Duet” has a role reversal of sorts, with Bikram Ghosh and Tanmoy Bose taking center stage with melodic rhythms on tables, even chanting at one point, the only vocals on the album.
“Pancham Se Gara” features Anoushka’s father, Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar. The sitar duets on this raga are intriguing, as though the sitars are trying to communicate with each other.
Ravi Shankar, “Full Circle/Carnegie Hall 2000” (Angel Records, 2001) is a live recording of Ravi and Anoushka Shankar performing at Carnegie Hall last year. The ragas on this album are relaxed, yet beautiful. The ragas tend to be longer, as with traditional Indian ragas, but you won’t notice the passing of time.
This album shows that even though Indian ragas are complicated melodically, they can be pulled off live, sometimes with better results than the recorded versions of the songs.
I highly recommend that anyone interested in Indian classical music should check these albums out.
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