Raga Ahir Bhairav / Raga Charukeshi

Rajeev Taranath is certainly an overlooked major talent in the world of Hindustani music today. He is one of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's foremost & prominent disciples and it is not hard to hear how Khansahib has trained him well. Rajeev's playing is clean, articulate and soulful.This is a studio recording, and I prefer live recordings...but this is certainly a good place to start if you can't get your hands on a live recording by Rajeev. (The great sitarist Pandit Nikhil Banerjee always said that studio recordings only capture a shadow of the essence of a player...recording live is the way to go in Hindustani music.) This recording is nice package with one longer piece, Raga Ahir Bhairav (64:20) & the shorter Raga Charukeshi (9:40).On Raga Ahir Bhairav the alap is a little short for my taste (he spends the majority of the alap in jor) but its nice to see a good long slow gat before it erupts into drut gat (fast playing.)The shorter piece, Raga Charukeshi, is a south Indian (carnatic) raga and is a nice compliment to Ahir Bhairav. I think it is a good idea to have long & short pieces coupled together so one can get a better idea of a player's ideas as he unfolds a raga.Not only do you get the skill of Rajeev Taranath on this recording but you also get the wonderful tabla playing of one of India's finest courtesy of Nayan Ghosh (son & disciple of the renowned tabla player Pandit Nikhil Ghosh.) Having seen Nayan Ghosh in concert I can attest to his amazing skill (he's also a great sitarist too.)This recording is definately worth the money although I would highly recommend seeking out a live recording too (or better yet, seeing him live.)

Rajeev Taranath is one of the most talented yet unrecognized of musicians performing the classical music of Northern India today. A senior disciple of the illustrious Ali Akbar Khan, Rajeev is a faculty member with the Cal Arts music program, and performs frequently in international venues. Rajeev has absorbed the stylings and sensitivity of his guru Ali Akbar Khan perhaps better than any other of Khansahib's disciples. This recording is excellent and gives a fine introduction to what the listener can expect to hear from Rajeev in a live performance. Hopefully, Rajeev will be recorded more widely in the future so that a larger audience can be introduced to this wonderful musician.

This CD reflects the music of a tremendously masterfulartist. It is profoundly beautiful and of a high artistic and technical caliber. I highly recommend this CD and any other recordings of Rajeev Taranath as well as his concerts, which I have also been privileged to hear.