Mhare Hivda ro haar..Karim Khan

Kumar Gandharva

A song sung in Priti's Residence Bangalore in Jan 2015. This talks about the last journey the bride makes to the house of her beloved. It signifies death and our last journey.

Bahut Rahi Babul

In this song, the Sufi-Bhakti poet Rohal Fakir urges us to receive - and the moment to receive is always now. This moment, this birth, is extremely precious, like a jewel or a diamond that may not come our way so easily again. We learnt this song from a recording of Om Prakash Naik ji from Bikaner, Rajasthan. 

Words and translation at http://cityoffeeling.blogspot.com/2016/02/lena-hue-so.html

Lena Hue So | Rohal Fakir

Kumar Gandharva - Shyam Kalyan - Live (rare)

Kumar Gandharva - 06 Shyam Kalyan

An adaptation of the 12th century English folk song "Scarborough Fair" (made famous by Simon & Garfunkel) in a Carnatic Ragam Thaanam Pallavi format. The raga is Kharaharapirya (or the Dorian mode in the original song) 

Piano: Anil Srinivasan (https://soundcloud.com/anil-srinivasan-1) (except some background bits when the violin is playing)
Violin: Krish Ashok

There's a personal history to this particular song. In 1989, Anil and me were invited by Doordarshan in Chennai as part of a kids program named "Wonder Balloons" to play some "fusion music". He walked up to me about a day before the recording and asked me if I knew the song Scarborough Fair. I said I had no idea. He asked me if I could play Karaharapriya. I said yes. So he said - just play anything in Karaharapriya and when I play the song, just follow along. And that's what we did in 1989. 

Fast forward to 2016, I met Anil again after many years and we briefly jammed and relived that 1989 experience. But our crazy work schedules never really synced to the point where we actually sat together to do a proper recording. He did one rough version on his end and I did one take on the violin several months ago. 

And I decided to simply put both these rough takes together, add some extra piano where I felt it was needed (you can clearly tell the difference!) splice and edit a bit and just burden y'all with it. 

Photo credits: Kate Ter Haar (https://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/6041871036/)

Ragam Thaanam Scarborough

A song about the stigma and taboo around mental illness.  Created for the White Swan Foundation for Mental Health by Swarathma. Watch the music video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFRE0gDefgg

Moving Minds - White Swan Foundation

Main Unme Se Nahin Hoon

In a radical departure from the norm of pursuing wealth and success, in this song the poet Kabir celebrates the joy of poverty, and the beauty of simplicity. Kabir claims that this joy is far greater than the joys afforded by material comfort or luxury. This audio is from a live performance at Lamakaan in Hyderabad. With Venkataraman Ramachandran on the kanjira.

Words and a translation at: https://cityoffeeling.blogspot.com/2018/02/mann-laago-yaar-fakiri-mein.html

Mann Laago Yaar Fakiri Mein | Kabir

Live concert in St.Pierre de Cuissine, Toulouse; France in 2011....

ABHISEK LAHIRI - Sarod recital

Rag: Yaman (Teental, 16 beats)

Tabla accompaniment: Parimal Chakrabarty

Kumar Gandharva. Nirguni Bhajan - Ram Niranjan Nyara Re

Devendera