INDIAN MUSIC FORUM ARCHIVES: Sitar Forum: Mirror Mirror on the Wall. .who is the worst of them all

I should have clarified why I found RS's KK performance painful.

The manner in which I listen to North ICM � is not based on speed. It is (1) musical ideas/imagination within raag/taal (2) adherence to structure of a performance and its construction (3) execution quality (in tune, smoothness of performance, medium technique) (4) focus/ consistency in approach.

I wish to note that I do expect different things from a spring chicken vs. an old hen.

Pt. RSs performances in regards to (1) and (2) are not an issue. That part remains ingrained in this mature and imaginative musician. His mind seems to be in good order. The painful parts are (3) and (4).

I need to go back and torture myself again. .but I found his meeds to be terribly out of tune. He was also slipping - and could not perform many of signature moves . .after starting them. He could obviously not pull as much. .and although he tried, he could not finish the meed properly. These problems were consistently present through the whole performance. His physical inadequaecies not only were distracting but also caused (4) to suffer. Anoushka's phrases in contrast, although not as seasoned sounded SO MUCH better. .just because of her tunefullness. In fact whe I heard the CD for the first time I thought geez. .Anoushka sounds better in her musical approach - but what happened to her hand? How come this is being sold as a RS CD when he played only a few phrases? Little did I realize that the players were reversed !!!! What is the point of calling it music when there bad melody/pitch prevailed through a performance?

I know that is if very unfair to expect the same performance (I am talkiing about physicial abilities only) of a young person than an older one, but that is not what bothered me. I expect a musician to change their approach as time progresses. .and eventually stop. And this was a performance that showed a great musician at his worst (well may be not absolute) - on several levels. In this case - besides my impressions that it was a bad performance, I was amazed that it got a Grammy. That speaks volumes about other issues.

Anyway. .off to the battle of the worst of all sitarists. .

A

PS: My personal impression is that Anoushka tunes for her father because of his physical - not audio weakness.

Lighten up, you guys. We're only expressing opinion here, and everybody has one! Sometimes its terribly logical, sometimes its shear poop! But whatever. . . .

I have to agree about Ravi. My opinion is that he should be a master teacher only now, and stop playing concerts. His arthritis is interfering badly with his meends. Look at those crooked fingers. Ouch!

Billy, not knowing anything, it was just the shear beauty of the music and the effect it had on me that attracted me to it in the first place. Knowledge in ICM is not required in order to listen to it! But if you're going to play it yourself, then some knowledge of ICM would be necessary. A little training doesn't hurt either. .
So, OK. My $0.02 worth.

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Russ (Jul 17, 2003 01:43 p.m.):
Billy, not knowing anything, it was just the shear beauty of the music and the effect it had on me that attracted me to it in the first place. Knowledge in ICM is not required in order to listen to it! But if you're going to play it yourself, then some knowledge of ICM would be necessary. A little training doesn't hurt either. .
So, OK. My $0.02 worth.

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I should mention, my first RS album was his "India's Master Musician/Recorded in London" from 1963. My brother bought it, kept it a couple of years, then gave it to me. I think I remember it being a hard-to-find import, but I was just a young teenager, and didn't know much except I liked the music. I've long gotten rid of all my vinyl, and had just recently bought that particular album remastered on CD. Guess what: its my favorite RS album. I don't know if its nostalgia, but I really enjoy listening to it, and would recommend it not on the basis of me being some kind of expert on the technical side, but because it is just an exciting listening experience!

I guess that would be the first one I put on my three-foot shelf, but that's another topic! :-)

My first RS album was Sound of the Sitar, from late 1965, just before he met George Harrison. I have played that thing almost to the point of smoothing out the grooves, and I still have it! It also was remastered onto CD a few years ago, and of course I have that too. But for sentimental reasons, I just can't part with the old vinyl waffle! That album inspired me to buy my first sitar a few years later.

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K.K. (Jul 17, 2003 05:32 p.m.):
Hi All: Have you ever looked at an audience and wondered how the various people came to be there and how they will be influenced by the concert? Some people were dragged there by their best friend and have never even heard of the artist who's performing

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You know, my oldest brother was a tremendous influence on me. In 1965, I was 13 and he was in college, living at home. He introduced me to classical music, jazz, folk, even Broadway, all the popular college-type fad music, but for him, being a musician it was more than a fad. While other kids my age at the time were obsessing on Jan and Dean and Herman Hermits (and I liked them too), my brother was responsible for instilling a wide eclectic appreciation for music that continues to this day. I can have "Tristan und Isolde" in my car player one day, AC/DC the next, Shruti Sadolikar the next day and Stan Getz on another (and another and another, I really like Bossa Nova and other Latin/Carribean music!) All this attributed to being dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming, to the college auditorium for all those concerts, or being given records he no longer needed or wanted.

So lets hear it for the draggers to concerts, for at least for me, it has made my life much more enriched.

(i hope im not wrong, i will paint my sitars tumba Orange if i hear that Vilayath Khan has been in town, while i was livin it up at the local Bingo saloon)

Jan

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Jeff (Jul 19, 2003 09:30 p.m.):
Talking about concerts! The best and my favorite would be "King Crimson.

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OK, yes this is off-topic, but King Crimsom ruled! I first saw them, I think it was their second incarnation, around 1972 in, I think, Austin (hey, I'm an old guy, I can't remember everything!) The other time I saw them was around 1982 in Germany.

Their "Courst of the Crimsom King" album made a significant impact on me, and helped turn me away from Pop to the more artistic rock. But I have to admit that many of their albums after "Court" weren't as good, at least not as a whole. But man, I loved their concernt in Germany! They made me a believer again.

Its great to find out I'm not the only one out there that loves King Crimsom!!!

Anyway this is far, far of topic and im sorry. . perhaps we can open an off topic, topic?

Jan

Best concert I ever went to was Yes, in early 1973. That's what got me into the "art" rock thing for a while. Speaking of King Crimson, the first time I ever heard a Chapman Stick was on their album "Discipline" from 1980 (hey, Remco!). It was probably King Crimson, or maybe Gregg Lake, that got me into ELP a few years later. Anyway, I could go on and on with this topic! Better not. . .Best ICM concert I saw remains Ravi's full circle tour in 2000. Sure wish I could have met him. SitarsRule, I'm a little jealous!

For example, Michael Jordan has done a lot for Basketball but some of his game performances at Washington were not that great.

So also with Pdt Ravi Shankar and other great musicians of our time that have started to age we cannot expect each performance to be brillant but they are brillant in what they have done over the past 30-40 years.

Peace,

Remco

As for others. .

U2 in Denver, CO, 1987 - some of this show is in the Rattle & Hum movie - the band at their absolute best, IMO.

Smashing Pumpkins on the Siamese Dream tour, 1994. Blew me away.

Any of the dozen or so Phish shows I've attended over the last 8 years. .

Pb

und die Welt zahlt laut bis Zehn. .